www.canadianlawyermag.com 23
the manner preferred by clients."
Benjamin Hecht, managing partner at
Pitbaldo LLP, notes that he has seen an
uptick in the hours worked by the firm's
lawyers, "partly because of the pandemic,
because they had nowhere to go." Only
recently, he noted, have his colleagues
thought much about taking vacations.
Hecht adds that during the pandemic, his
firm had lawyers coming to the office every
day. "It was never closed," he says, but notes
that the number of people coming in on a
particular day was never more than 50 per
cent of the total.
"We've seen that we can run a firm pretty
much completely remotely, but then you
have to ask the question, 'are you really a law
firm?' Are you not just a bunch of people on
islands that never see each other?"
Hecht worries that without regular
contact, there is less of a feeling of being
part of a cohesive firm identity, and a poten-
tial lack of mentoring for articling students
and young lawyers from senior members of
the firm.
"I think the new normal, whatever it will
be, will require law firms to have some flex-
ibility," he says. "But let's not continue on in a
world where mostly people aren't in the office
and aren't available for water cooler chats and
visits and going for lunch and having drinks
after work, when that is available."
comes as COVID-19 has created what has
been called the "Great Reset," where many of
us, lawyers included, are looking at our lives
and thinking about making big changes in
career or lifestyle.
Sherry Fitzsimmons, partner at McDou-
gall Gauley, says there has been "ongoing
and focussed development" of legal talent
within the firm through the building of
"retention projects aimed at maintaining
and building a diverse pool of legal talent in
each practice area." This includes the provi-
sion of internal education opportunities to
help ensure that the firm's "legal talent pool
has the skills, expertise and technology best
suited to deliver legal services to clients in
Relationships. Respect. Results.
Pitblado Law
is proud to be named one of the
Top 10 Prairie Regional Firms
by Canadian Lawyer
Find your Lawyer at pitblado.com
We build relationships
that inspire success
