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MANAGING PARTNER will have spillover effects into other areas that are dependent on financing, and it may also affect the capital markets con- siderably over a period of time. At the same time, for us, we have a wide base of clients, practice areas, and geographic distribution, so it still hasn't had an im- pact on our operation overall. That is, other areas are busy. So I think we could probably expect more in restructuring and bankruptcy, more disputes, and probably increased or comparable levels of M&A around the world. Some of the markets that are very active now for us are in central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, China, Asia. We expect that those will be strong for us this year. Q Q Q You've been in the job since Oct. 1. What has been your greatest challenge? I think learning the job. I was working as a head of an office, Moscow, and worked around the world in different offices, but all of those things help to prepare you for manag- ing the firm but there's no substitute for learning it. That takes time and ef- fort. In simplest terms, that's the great- est challenge for me. You have a four-year term as head of the firm. Is that renewable? In theory, it's like being prime minister of Canada. I can be re- elected. What made you want to move into man- agement and out of practice? What drives me in this is, I came to New York from Canada with the idea of working here for a year and I'd intended to return to Canada. I was very struck by the openness of the firm when I joined in 1983 — although at the time it was a lot earlier on in its progress toward becoming international and global than it is today — I developed a deep sense of appreciation for the op- portunity I was offered and then all the opportunities I was given as I worked through my career in the firm. I found I was inspired by the idea that we could become part of the transformation of a national firm into a global firm. That to me was exciting as a lawyer and as a Ca- nadian. That's what I feel excited to be part of now. The attraction to manage- ment is the attraction to participating in this ongoing quest toward becoming a truly great global law firm. Q Q Do you think after you're finished as the firm's chairman, you'll want to return to transactional work? I hope so. I'm trying to persuade my wife to move to Nunavut! You've worked all over the world. What would you say is the most important personality trait in dealing with lawyers, clients, and people in general, in foreign countries? I think the Canadian virtues of tolerance, respect, patience are the most important. I think Canadians have the sorts of qualities that allow them to move in and out of countries and cul- tures well, and are therefore well suited to global law practice. Q You said you went down with the plan to be in New York for just a year. What made you decide to go there in the first place? René Lévesque. By which I mean I grew up in Montreal. My grandfa- ther was a partner at Ogilvy Renault. His name was Hazen Hansard. He was presi- dent of the Canadian Bar Association (1964-65). It was his wish that I would become part of the firm in Montreal, and like so many of my generation, the world we grew up in in Montreal was closed to us in many ways. The effect of that was that many English Montrealers moved to different parts of Canada. I thought New York would be that much more interesting to see and experience and would allow me to, as has happened with so many lawyers since then, acquire and see different things. Q What advice do you have for young law- yers who are interested in getting into international finance and other areas of international law or global practice? Canadian lawyers are very sought- after by global law firms. White & Case is probably the most active firm in Canada among the international law firms. But both U.S. and U.K. firms re- cruit now heavily in Canada, perhaps for slightly different reasons. The U.K. firms are partly attracted by the fact that Ca- nadian lawyers can quite easily become U.K. qualified. The training allows them to achieve that. I think U.S. law firms are attracted by the highly trained skills Ca- nadian lawyers have. I think the only ad- vice is to seek out the opportunities that are easily found now among the global law firms. There's a real market for those skills and those interests, and that is only going to increase. Q Law firms, especially in London and New York, are bringing in first-year associates think law firms and clients are going to be able to sustain these kinds of num- bers? That question has been asked as least as long as I've been practising law, and the salaries have quadrupled over the course of my career. I don't see an end in sight. Ultimately, law firms are the balance point between clients, who demand certain services on the one hand, and lawyers, who, although they want to acquire professional skills, don't want to be indentured servants. The bal- ance point is the marketplace that sets the salaries. Q Q What do you think makes a good leader? A good leader connects the history and strength of a firm with the aspiration of its members and thereby leads it to achieve greatness. Being a leader should be measured by the extent to which he or she can accomplish that. What is your goal while you're chairman of the firm? My goal is to help the firm realize more of the awesome potential that it has, specifically by working to- gether and drawing on its strengths as a global law firm. The idea being, the larger the firm becomes, certainly a global firm, it has enormous assets spread throughout the world — hu- man assets, clients, intellectual assets — the ability to connect those assets in a way that reinforces our ability to serve our clients is the way forward to really realize the strength of a global firm. My goal is to make it as strong and true a global firm as it can be. www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com M ARCH 2008 15