Canadian Lawyer

O f this year's 553 respondents, 78 per cent identified themselves as regional law firms or companies; 13 per cent described themselves as national, while nine per cent described themselves as global. A third were full service and the rest were split across a wide range of practice areas. Seventy-one per cent represented law firms with the remainder being in-house. Sixty-nine per cent of respondents employ one to nine lawyers, and 20 per cent employ 10 to 49. The remainder have upwards of 50 lawyers, with three per cent employing 500 lawyers or more. Sixty-five per cent operate out of a single office, 22 per cent have two to four offices, and the remainder have five or more offices. Just over half (56 per cent) of respondents come from Ontario, 25 per cent British Columbia, 22 per cent Alberta, 16 per cent Quebec, eight per cent Manitoba, eight per cent Nova Scotia, seven per cent Saskatchewan, and eight per cent operate internationally. The rest are located in other provinces and territories. The total exceeds 100 per cent due to firms indicating more than one regional base. The compensation figures in the tables and charts represent base salary before benefits and other perks, which were covered in other questions. For respondents who provided salary ranges instead of solid numbers, the midpoints were included in the results. Obvious outliers have been discounted. — DAvID gruber (SAMPLE SIZE: 291) Keep the same number oF laWyers? 57% hire more laWyers? 40% doWnsiZe? 2% WILL LAW FIRM SALARIES INCREASE IN 2014? (SAMPLE SIZE: 169) 60% 40% www.CANADIAN no GEOGRAPHY AND METHODOLOGY IN THE COMING YEAR, WILL YOUR LAW FIRM . . . yes create "golden handcuffs," he adds. Increased supply could also push salaries back down, he believes. "There's definitely the prospect that [corporate legal departments] won't have to pay as much to get people [to move in-house]." Bhatal agrees. "In-house is now the preferred environment. There's a huge pool of candidates." However, she highlights the marked regional variations, with Ontario traditionally offering the highest compensation levels and British Columbia the lowest, although Calgary's average pay packages are starting to overtake Toronto's, thanks to the oil and gas sector. Overall, 72 per cent of in-house respondents said salaries were likely to rise in 2014, though this varied by sector. Less than half of respondents from government departments expected to see pay raises but nearly all those in the financial services industry and service sector predicted pay would increase. Some government bodies are circumventing mandated pay freezes by enhancing benefits packages, Bongard says. The survey shows two-thirds of law departments paid bonuses to lawyers in 2012, ranging from $3,500 to $135,000. All the corporate legal departments taking part in the survey said they offered benefits packages, which made up 16 per cent of compensation on average. Four-fifths offered perks like health club membership and three-quarters had a company pension plan. L a w ye r m a g . c o m J u ly 2013 37

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