Canadian Lawyer InHouse

lAW DEpARTMEnT MAnAGEMEnT LAW FIRM BOOTS By Vanessa Chris ON IN-HOUSE GROUND Secondments can be a stop-gap measure for short-staffed law departments that can also strengthen ties with external law firms. 36 • a pr il 2013 INHOUSE The majority of in-house lawyers are familiar with the term secondment — the act of hiring a lawyer from an outside firm on a temporary basis. While the concept has been around for a long time, it's becoming more commonly used as in-house counsel suffering from budget constraints, higher workloads, and temporary leaves-of-absence look for relief. While the majority of secondments are used to fill maternity leaves, the service can come in handy in a variety of ways. Maybe you need a lawyer with a specialized skill set because your company is new to Canada and in the midst of setting up its labour and employment policies — you might hire a secondee who specializes in Canadian labour and employment law. On the other hand, you might have a temporary influx of work and need extra resources to complete a special project. "Secondments are a way to get something done that you need done in a cost effective way," says Michael Sherrard, partner with Sherrard Kuzz LLP. "Here's another way to get those services completed, as opposed to simply retaining firms on an hourly rated basis." Basically, if your company has a need, the right law firm will find a way to fill it. Whether they're well publicized or not, most law firms have a secondment program — primarily because they're great marketing tools. By temporarily lending out their lawyers, these firms develop a unique insight into the inner workings of their clients — and can offer better legal advice later on as a result. On the same token, once in-house counsel has taken the time to train a new lawyer, they're more likely to go back to that lawyer, or law firm, when future legal work arises. "For us, it's a great way to get high quality talent — either for a maternity leave or on a specific project. It allows us to get someone high calibre from a law firm that we know and trust, in a very cost effective way," says Ildiko Mehes, general counsel for Teva Canada. "It's a win for the law firm too, because we definitely go back to them down the road for advice and they get a lot of work out of it." How secondments work Because virtually every secondment is different — tailored specifically to a company's needs — there aren't any steadfast rules in how you approach them. If your business has the need for additional lawyers, simply raising the issue with a law firm you know and trust is all it takes to get the ball rolling. "I was generally aware of the concept of secondments before using one, but I didn't really know the details. That being said, at the end of the day there aren't that many details. It's a fairly simple notion," says Mehes. "I reached out to two of our main law firms and raised the opportunity with them, and found them both to be engaged with the idea. In our case, I proposed a fee arrangement and the law firms accepted it." In Mehes' case, the company needed to fill a position left vacant by a maternity leave. Up until that point, they had hired full-time

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