Canadian Lawyer

34 N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m I f it seems like everywhere you go these days someone is talking about alternative fee arrangements, you're not alone. It's been a popular topic at legal conferences and workshops for a few years now, but have they really taken off? And what exactly is an AFA — do flat fees or discounts count? David Felicissimo is one general coun- sel who wonders that a lot. Last year, he completed an executive education certifi- cate at Harvard Law School where AFAs were a frequent topic of conversation among his colleagues. As the "only legal officer" in a growing Montreal private investment company, Felicissimo works for an organization that specializes in the acquisition and development of Internet- based businesses — their assets are on the web and their audience is worldwide. His very new-economy company still does a lot of work with external counsel based on the old billable hour. "It's a topic we talk about often when I speak to other general counsel," says Feli- cissimo, general counsel at Valnet Inc. "At Valnet, we're still using the billable hour with our primary firm in Canada — we have a great relationship with them and we've been working with them for eight years." In fact, 46.8 per cent of respondents to the annual Canadian Lawyer Corporate Counsel Survey said the billable hour is still the main arrangement they have with their primary law firm, followed by a com- bination of billable hours and flat fees at 31 per cent. "I thought I was missing the boat on AFAs, but I see it's one of those things that is discussed all the time but has not really caught on yet in a big way — I The annual Canadian Lawyer Corporate Counsel survey shows alternative fee arrangements are out there, but in-house are the ones primarily driving the conversation. the AFA testing By Jennifer Brown waters

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