Canadian Lawyer

The GoinG RaTe Canadian Lawyer's 2014 Legal Fees Survey anada's slow and steady economic recovery seems to be reflected in the country's legal market, with lawyers split down the middle on the merits of a price hike. For the second year in a row, a narrow majority of respondents to Canadian Lawyer's Legal Fees Survey indicated plans to freeze rates over the next year, with 52 per cent opt- ing for a no-change approach. But at the same time, average hourly rates rose across the board compared with last year's survey, while fee estimates for individual matters increased in most categories for 2014 over 2013 responses. Based on feedback, we've expanded the survey to assess the going rate for 38 different matters across eight practice areas: civil litiga- tion, corporate-commercial, criminal, family, immigration, intellectual property, real estate, and wills and estates. Just four per cent of respondents intend to cut rates in 2014, and of the 44 per cent increasing fees this year, almost half (45 per cent) are planning hikes of between five and 10 per cent, well above the national inflation rate, which stood at just over one per cent in the first quarter of 2014. A further 23 per cent will boost fees by more than 10 per cent, while 32 per cent are aiming for more conservative rises, between zero and five per cent. The most commonly cited reasons for price rises included increasing overhead costs, inflation, and greater complexity of the work lawyers are taking on. One British Columbia- based boutique opted to raise its fees because a few years of relatively static pricing had left its rates trailing "below the average rates of our competitors," while a lucky Ontario sole practitioner explained his rationale for a price rise: "I'm so busy that I can be more selective in clients." Hourly rates are on the rise across the nation, according to our survey. One-year calls command an average rate of $218 per hour, up 13 per cent over 2013. Rates for five-year calls and 10-year calls were each up four per cent over last year, bringing in $267 and $322 per hour respectively. Lawyers with 20 years at the bar averaged $390 per hour, up seven per cent, and those with more than 20 years experience charge $394 per hour, up shows lawyers split on whether to hike fees. The Issue Money w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m J u n e 2 0 1 4 33 By Michael McKiernan

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