Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m M A r C h 2 0 1 5 21 hen Craig Burley left Bay Street to open his own tax law practice in Hamilton, Ont., he reveled in his new- found freedom. But he soon discovered the down side of being on his own. Suddenly he was without the support network he once enjoyed at the large firm. Those administrative tasks he now found on his plate seemed something of a distraction and time spent doing them was time away from practising law. Ultimately, some of those tasks fell by the wayside and Burley realized he had even dropped some of the things he had once taken pride in, like the solid bill- ing management system he perfected. Recognizing that in the post-recession era he needed to be efficient to compete, he re-grouped and re-applied some of the processes he learned at big law. He began by hiring the support he needed to take care of the necessary non-revenue generating tasks to allow him to focus on practising law. "That was key," he says. An uncertain economy, regula- tory changes, changing client demands, increased competition, and the introduc- tion of new players as well as the ongoing evolution of technology has put enormous pressure on the practice of law on all lev- els. And being efficient may well make the difference between the firm that survives and the one that doesn't. But what is efficient and how does one, in a practice large or small, sort through everything that's out there? For some, it's a matter of choosing some key tools after trying them out. For others it may be just keeping it simple. But often it's a matter of taking a step back and taking everything in. For Burley another step he found impor- tant in his solo effort to be more efficient was not just having the technology required to ensure everything was running smoothly but knowing how to use it effectively. "You save an inordinate amount of time" when using it properly, says Burley. He was also able to carry over his knowledge of a variety of research tools he used at the large firm for his own research-heavy practice, so he knew which tools he needed. One area he didn't want to lose control of was his web site, which he found to be a great tool to bring in clients. So he took the time to learn the related software properly, eliminating possible frustrations and limiting the time he spent doing it. In your practice an audit or some kind of a system can help to determine ways to become more efficient. "All in-house legal departments, small, medium, and large, are experiencing challenges requir- ing them to be more efficient," says Emily Jelich, senior vice president and senior associate general counsel for the Royal Bank of Canada law group. "What I'm interested in is the number of innovations I'm seeing across the board." Jeremy Bruneel Do some navel gazing Conducting internal audits of your law firm processes can help cut costs and also make you better service providers. By Marg. Bruineman W L AW o f f I C E M A N A g E M E N t

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