Canadian Lawyer InHouse

37 CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015 But if I'm going to another jurisdiction I think the brand is more important in that situation." When asked if they are asking law fi rms for a diverse roster of lawyers to staff their fi les, 76.6 per cent said no — about the same as last year. "I come at it from a unique per- spective. I am a woman and I have a biracial family. My eyes are always tuned to what I see on the other side of the table," says O'Reilly Wilks. "If I was engaging with a fi rm and all I saw was white men across the table I would certainly notice it but in the same breath I have to say, especially in the mining world and throughout my profes- sional life I've been blinded to it — I focus on doing the best job I can and I forget I'm a woman and we're just focused on getting to the fi nish line and getting that success." She says that while there are areas where many of the fi rms are equal, she is "always mindful of the future that will be in front of my kids. If all things are equal and I'm engaging with a few fi rms and they put for- ward a woman who is of minority race or biracial, I will certainly take note of that and gravitate towards that fi rm." BY THE NUMBERS The responses to the survey came from a cross-section of departments. Similar to last year, 11 per cent came from legal de- partments with $10 million or more in le- gal spending in the last fi scal year, 6.8 per cent with $5.1 million to $10 million, 7.8 per cent at $3.1 million to $5 million, 22 per cent at $1 million to $3 million, 12.8 per cent at $501,000 to $1 million, 22 per cent at $101,000 to $500,000 and 17.4 per cent spent less than $100,000 in legal costs. Responses came from a variety of sectors including government (21.6 per cent), fi - nancial (20.1 per cent), resource-based (13.3 per cent), industry/manufacturing (12.3 per cent), services (10.5 per cent), non-profi t (8.7 per cent), technology (6.8 per cent), and professional services (6.4 per cent). Litigation remained the No. 1 area of practice in-house counsel outsource at 73.9 per cent — up from 69.8 per cent last year but still below the 2013 number at 82.4 per cent. Employment law remained in the second spot at a steady 46 per cent. Mergers and acquisitions came in third at 31.9 per cent, up slightly over last year's number of 27.8 per cent. Intellectual property jumped to 27.8 per cent, up three per cent over last year. IH Osgoode's Professional LLM THE LAW IS ALWAYS EVOLVING – ARE YOU? Working full-time and pursuing your professional development goals is possible with Osgoode's Professional LLM programs. We offer you unparalleled fl exibility to attend onsite at our downtown Toronto facility or via real-time videoconferencing. NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS FOR SEPTEMBER 2016 STARTS IN 9 SPECIALIZATIONS: Professional legal education the way it was meant to be. A WORLD LEADER IN LAW SCHOOL LIFELONG LEARNING > Administrative Law > Dispute Resolution* > Business Law > Civil Litigation and Dispute Resolution > Constitutional Law > Energy and Infrastructure Law > General LLM > Intellectual Property Law > Tax Law *Formerly the LLM in Alternative Dispute Resolution Want to learn more? Register for an info session webinar. www.osgoodepd.ca/LLM2016 ntitled-4 1 2015-10-01 1:35 PM Is the volume of legal work carried out by your department and external counsel combined likely to grow for your company in 2016 from 2015? Yes 61.4% No 38.6%

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