Canadian Lawyer

16 A p r i l 2 0 1 4 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m by PhiliP Slayton LEgaL EthiCs You may be next Greedy and selfish partners can be the downfall of any law firm. T he titillating collapse of Heenan Blaikie LLP has been accompanied by much schadenfreude. That was inevitable. But listen up all you gloating partners in second- tier law firms across the nation, I'd go easy on that schadenfreude thing if I were you. What makes you think Heenan Blaikie was a one-off? In these perilous times, you may be next. I don't have any inside information about what happened at Heenan Blaikie, but it's a good bet the greed of some part- ners was the root of the problem. Once, in ancient times, law partners felt a strong commitment to each other. The general principle was "one for all, all for one," not "the devil take the hindmost." Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit, being a little senti- mental. Money has always been important. But, in the olden days, if I remember correctly, it wasn't the only thing that mat- tered. Loyalty and fellowship counted for something. Now it seems partners will walk out the door without a twinge of con- science if they calculate doing so is in their marginal economic interests. They'll walk out even if they destroy a significant firm, with bad consequences for many of their former colleagues and employees, and for their clients and creditors. Sometimes it's not unvarnished greed that is the driving force, but a sense of injustice on the part of some partners, a feeling their true worth is not adequately appreciated. When I worked at a big Bay Street law firm, one of the most success- ful lawyers there said to me, "The trouble with this place is that there's a lot of box- cars and not enough locomotives." (He, of course, considered himself a locomotive, a great big one with a full head of steam and a boiler about to burst.) If you gener- ate more revenue than the guy down the hall, and you think your share of partner- ship profits doesn't reflect that fact, then in today's environment of individualism, being only human, you will develop a corrosive sense of grievance. It won't be long before you fly the coop. What about employees? When a law firm collapses, a few will be invited to follow star partners to the Elysian Fields, but most will be cast aside. Many Heenan Blaikie associates and articling students were thrown out into a treacherous job market. It's even worse for those fur- ther down the food chain, paralegals and other support staff. As the firm collapsed, newspapers reported chaotic scenes in soon-to-be-vacated offices as staff milled about, many in tears, not knowing what to do and getting no direction or infor- mation from management. (Meanwhile, its web site was still up and proclaiming for some time: "Heenan Blaikie is con- stantly on the lookout for talented lawyers Marco cIbola

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