Canadian Lawyer - sample

12 M A R C H 2 0 1 9 w w w . c a n a d i a n l a w y e r m a g . c o m R E G I O N A L W R A P B R I T I S H C O L U M B I A BUSINESS BOOM DRAWING LAWYERS AWAY FROM VANCOUVER TO INTERIOR A sk Christopher Hirst what he sees as his top challenge as the new manag- ing partner at Alexander Hol- burn Beaudin + Lang LLP and he points to the battle for talent in the Metro Vancouver area. Finding lawyers who can afford to live in the area or are willing to commute is becom- ing a significant challenge. In fact, he puts recruitment and retention alongside the adoption of new technology as his primary areas of focus. He says artificial intelligence will be a significant differen- tiator for firms in the next two years and indicates the firm is closing in on making invest- ments in AI. Hirst, who is a partner and leader of the firm's construc- tion and engineering practice, was appointed managing partner in January. He began his career at Alexander Hol- burn in 1994 as a summer student and became a partner in 2003. His areas of practice include construction and engineering, environmental and insurance. "The primary challenge right now is really retain- ing young talent," says Hirst. "The cost of housing here is extraordinary, and we're find- ing that young lawyers with families want to purchase homes within reasonable commuting distance of Van- couver, and even a lot of pro- fessional two-income families can't afford to do so." In many cases, he says, once young lawyers at the firm have a few years under their belts, they are looking outside Vancouver to continue their careers and are choosing to head to the interior or over to Vancouver Island. "It's that sweet spot of a three-plus year of call that is particularly hard to hire right now," he says. "The problem is magnified with support staff. The question of affordable housing is magnified by the difference in the compensa- tion scale, which has result- ed in an extremely tight market for support staff." The firm is looking at providing more flexible work- ing alternatives for staff. One lawyer works out of Kelowna now, where the firm is plan- ning to open a new office. That lawyer now only com- mutes to Vancouver about once a month. Hirst says the firm is also more agreeable to having lawyers work from home rather than commute to Vancouver every day. "I think there is going to be greater demand for that from our young lawyers, and we need to be prepared to accommodate that," he says. "That means lawyers who are used to being able to walk down a hall and talk to an associate about a problem will have to think differently about how they work with people." The challenge is one shared by other firms in Van- couver. During a panel discus- sion in Vancouver in early December at the B.C. Legal Innovation Forum, lawyers from Lawson Lundell LLP, Pushor Mitchell LLP (based in Kelowna) and Hamilton Duncan Armstrong + Stewart Law Corporation (Surrey) dis- cussed the expansion of firms to areas such as Kelowna. Mike Macaulay, a part- ner at Lawson Lundell in the corporate finance and technology practice, spoke about how he was at that firm's Vancouver office until he recently relocated to the newly opened Kelowna office eight months ago. Macaulay's practice is in part what led Lawson Lundell to open the Kelowna office in the innovation centre that houses a number of early- stage technology companies. James Paterson, managing partner of Pushor Mitchell in Kelowna, noted his commu- nity has changed a great deal since the mid-'90s, when the busiest solicitor in town had 100 companies as their client base. Now, there are 6,000 companies in the Okanagan. "The size of transactions has changed dramatically," said Paterson. "It's a very dif- ferent legal environment to what it was not that long ago. So, I think you're seeing a growth that has occurred due to many different reasons, but I peg it back to the develop- ment of [the University of British Columbia] and the educational opportunities that arose from that including a burgeoning technology sector." There has also been a trend back to manufacturing in the interior. Housing prices in Van- couver have certainly been a driver of lawyers going to the Okanagan. Paterson said Pushor Mitchell is seeing a high quality talent coming to the firm because they can afford to live in Kelowna. Macaulay said that, in five years, he has seen a lot of change in the number of companies in the technology sector and their businesses are global. "If you're dealing with a technology-based company, you can be anywhere; your workers and customers can be anywhere. Another part of what makes Kelowna attractive is a highly func- tional airport, making it a highly functional place for people to grow companies," he said. The City of Surrey has been focused on making sure it has an economy and industry to support itself, says Sunny Aujla, a lawyer with Hamilton Duncan. It has focused on bringing health technology companies and investing in health technol- ogy with the Fraser Health Authority. "Our clients range from people who are raising funds through private offerings to mom-and-pop restaurants opening up to serve locals," he said. Macaulay says he is still doing work with the Lawson "It's that sweet spot of a three-plus year of call that is particularly hard to hire right now. The problem is magnified with support staff." Christopher Hirst, Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP

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