Another bonus that boutiques can offer smaller clients is priority status. Small clients may be small potatoes to full-service firms, but virtually any client is an important client to a boutique, says Saxe, who previously was a lawyer at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP and Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP.

“Those are very, very big organizations, and, to be an important client to them, you have to spend an awful lot of money,” she says. “Someone who we’re giving 10 hours a month to is a significant client. They get our attention,” she says.

And because boutiques specialize in just one niche area, small law firms tend to point clients with green issues in the direction of boutiques, because they don’t have to worry that they’ll never see them again. “If a small firm refers a valued client to a full-service law firm, they will almost inevitably try to steal all the client’s business,” says Saxe.

Larger firms also retain boutiques when a conflict exists, says John Hunter of the Vancouver-based civil litigation boutique Hunter Litigation Chambers, known for its expertise in the forestry sector. “The courts have been quite clear about ensuring the conflict rules aren’t going to be relaxed just because lawyers have chosen to organize themselves into multi-jurisdictional firms,” he says. “So that tends to bring in some work for the boutiques.”

Whether large companies use the services of boutiques often depends on whether corporate counsel cherry-pick lawyers for work in specialized areas or give large amounts of work to a small number of full-service firms, often in exchange for things like rate discounts or single billing, says Saxe. “We get some really fascinating work from very, very big companies,” she says. “They know we won’t have five people staffed on a file that takes one or two, and they know they are important clients.”

Whether General Electric Co. (Canada) works with a full-service firm or a boutique firm is driven by who the lawyer is, says Christopher Hart, a senior lawyer for the conglomerate known for its campaign to provide customers with energy-efficient products, invest in clean technology, and reduce its own emissions.

 “We look for lawyers who have complete mastery of that area of law, people who are practical and efficient, can adapt to the way we work, and understand how we approach issues,” says Hart, who deals exclusively with environmental, health, and safety law.

GE Canada currently works with a small group of first-class environmental lawyers at full-service firms. Sometimes the company’s environmental legal issues spill over into other practice areas, and lawyers at full-service firms can easily consult lawyers with different expertise. But Hart says General Electric’s doors are certainly not closed to boutique firms. “If they think they’ve got something to offer us, come and talk to us.”

Saxe has managed to get around the lawyer-down-the-hall problem by joining the International Network of Boutique Law Firms. Because the network functions like a virtual law firm, seeking advice from legal stars in different practice areas is just a phone call way. But the big firms have a bench strength advantage, she admits.

“If I get run over by a truck, there’s a big hit to what my firm can do. If a lawyer gets run over by a truck at a 200-person law firm, it’s not such a big difference.”

And she’s not completely convinced that the recent upsurge of work created by the public’s renewed interest in all things green will last. She’s seen similar phases come and go. “There’s a flavour-of-the-week problem in government and in public interest. The public never stays interested in anything for very long. But fortunately there’s work to do in all phases of the cycle. There’s just more fun work when there’s an up phase.”