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 J U L Y 2 0 1 5 41 Geography and methodology Of this year's 151 law fi rms and in-house legal departments that responded, 72 per cent identifi ed themselves as regional, 15 per cent said they were national, and a further 13 per cent were global. e vast majority; 75 per cent, of law fi rms and law departments con- tained between one and nine lawyers, while a further 18 per cent had between 10 and 49, with the rest 50 or over. About a third of fi rms; 33 per cent, were full service. Sixty per cent operate out of just one offi ce, 23 per cent had between two and four offi ces, 12 per cent had between fi ve and 10 of- fi ces, with fi ve per cent more than 10. Geographically, 61 per cent of respondents had a presence in Ontario, B.C. (21 per cent), and Alberta (21 per cent) were also well represented. Quebec contained a base for 15 per cent of respondents, while 16 per cent had an offi ce outside the country. Seven per cent of respondents have an offi ce in Nova Scotia, with the rest scattered across the other provinces and territories. e numbers total more than 100 per cent because some respondents have offi ces in more than one location. e compensation fi gures in the following tables represent base salaries before benefi ts and other perks, which were covered in other questions, and where respondents provided a range instead of a single number, the midpoints were included in the results. year this year to last, with around 41 per cent of respondents budgeting less than $500,000 for legal spend. A similar proportion have set aside between $500,000 and $2 million. Six per cent of respondents went for between $2 million and $5 million, with almost 12 per cent budgeting over $5 million. Newly hired in-house counsel saw salaries dip sharply according to the survey, with the median 2014 call earning $64,000, compared with $89,000 last year. Two-year calls also saw significant drops, earning on average $65,000, down from $89,000 in 2014. Grouped by year of call, in-house lawyers in most other categories saw slight decreases in average wages over last year's survey. At the senior level, in-house salaries were simi- lar to last year's survey. For directors, the median pay of general counsel was down to $160,000 from $170,000, while at the executive level, it was $200,000, exactly the same as last year. Overall, 76 per cent of respondents predicted another rise in 2016, while 65 per cent paid bonuses to lawyers last year. Of those, 52 per cent paid a percentage of salary, with most falling in the 10 to 25 per cent range. CONNECT WITH IN-HOUSE COUNSEL COLLEAGUES AT LEXPERT.CA/CCCA Check out in-house counsel's best networking tool! The 2014/15 Lexpert CCCA/ACCJE Directory & Yearbook online edition is a user-friendly, outstanding key resource for all in-house counsel. Access more than 4,000 listees, more than RUJDQL]DWLRQV´QGIUHVKHGLWRULDOFRQWHQW and information on deals and links to important resources. ANYWHERE. ANYTIME. ON ANY DEVICE. ntitled-5 1 2015-02-09 10:18 AM The only thing harder than fi nding the right legal document is losing it and trying to quickly fi nd it again. With WestlawNext Canada, the information you fi nd remains found – and organized. Effortlessly drag and drop key cases and documents into folders. Easily highlight and annotate documents as you go. Discover more at westlawnextcanada.com 00227MO-A48602 HELPING YOU TO BE MORE EFFICIENT, EFFECTIVE AND CONFIDENT.

• Cover