Canadian Lawyer 4Students

Fall 2009

Life skills and career tips for Canada's lawyers in training

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Practising law at a litigation boutique KEVIN CARROLL, current president CBA, Carroll Heyd Chown, Barrie, Ont. + PROS: • You get to court at an early stage of your ca- reer. So a junior or student who comes to this fi rm, within a month they are in court. Th ey are doing motions, small claims court actions, and attend on discoveries and help to prepare the fi le for discovery. • Th e learning process begins immediately and it is not only sitting in an offi ce conducting research for a senior. • Instant mentoring: any of the partners here will stop what they are doing and chat with a junior on a particular issue while it is fresh in the junior's mind. It is not a question of having to wait parts of a day or days to get in and see somebody who can help you. • I think also there is a certain element of collegiality. Aſt er work we might gather in the kitchen and have a session of "I got an issue and I don't know what to do with this," so three or four of us will do that. So there's an opportunity for feedback and assistance from the various views of the lawyers participating, in a big fi rm that may not be the case. - CONS: • Juniors entering a boutique fi rm most likely will have somewhat less in income than in the large fi rms. Th at said, they probably get an opportu- nity for partnership earlier than the large fi rms so it balances off . • In the large fi rms they have more resources in terms of librarians and research assistants, whereas in the smaller fi rms we don't have that. Th at, however, simply means that a lawyer who is arguing the case, or the ju- nior, will do the research. Today with modern technology of computer researching you don't have to be two blocks from the library as you would in a Bay Street fi rm. • In a large fi rm another lawyer in the group or in another practice group may have litigated the same issue some time in the past, in which case there is that added resource where in the smaller fi rm that is less likely to happen. Not never, just less likely. Practising law at a litigation boutique JASON GAVRAS, Gavras Slone, Halifax + PROS: • Th e benefi ts of working in At- lantic Canada — Halifax — are many. Several lakes and sailing are within a 10-minute drive, or bicycle ride, of downtown Hali- fax. Surfi ng is a 30-minute drive. • In a boutique fi rm you don't have levels of partners overseeing all of your billables. • Meetings consist of popping your head into the offi ce next door to see if your colleagues have 10 minutes. • If you don't understand something, say so, and ask questions. You'd be surprised how oſt en the other side can't answer your questions. - CONS: • Th e cons are few, the main one be- ing having enough work. But that is also true for larger fi rms espe- cially in turbulent times. Th e key is to keep your overhead manage- able, something that larger fi rms have more diffi culty doing. • I always advise young lawyers to train for four to fi ve years with a large or a specialized fi rm be- fore venturing out to establish a boutique fi rm. It will save you an enormous amount of time and give you the confi dence you need to serve your clients well. 4Students tudents is Help Wanted looking f Untitled-8 1 ing for correspondents at every school to produce stories and videos for the 4Students weekly web updates. E-mail editor Gail Cohen (gcohen@clbmedia.ca) if you're interested. And, yes, we do pay! C ANADIAN Lawyer 4STUDENTS SEPTEMBER 2009 37 7/21/09 3:13:55 PM y law

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