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 N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 5 41 72.6 per cent saying they use smaller specialized firms in the area of IP, tax, employment law, and other areas. National firms still led the pack at 75.3 per cent, with regional firms at 62.6 per cent, global firms at 32 per cent, and alternative firms at 6.6 per cent. LPOs were last at 3.3 per cent. "I seek out individuals," says O'Reilly Wilks. "The firm brand means nothing to me unless we've been harmed by that firm. 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 firms for a diverse roster of lawyers to staff their files, 76.6 per cent said no — about the same as last year. "I come at it from a unique perspective. 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 engag- ing with a firm 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 professional 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 finish line and getting that success." She says while there are areas where many of the firms 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 firms and they put forward a woman who is of minority race or biracial, I will certainly take note of that and gravitate towards that firm." 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 departments with $10 million or more in legal spending in the last fiscal 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 sec- tors including government (21.6 per cent), financial (20.1 per cent), resource-based (13.3 per cent), industry/manufacturing (12.3 per cent), services (10.5 per cent), non-profit (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 of 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 prop- erty jumped to 27.8 per cent, up three per cent over last year. rank the most important (1 being the most important) things that your law firms can do to improve working relationships with your company. are you interested in engaging with your law firm(s) in AFAs? 41/8& 7:/4& yes no % % how many law firms are you using? 1 to 4 5 to 10 more than 10 48 % 36 % 16 % do you use 75.3 % National firms 72.7 % Boutique firms (IP, employment law, tax) 62.7 % Regional firms 32 % International firms 6.7 % Alternative firms 3.3 % LPOs does the general counsel have the autonomy to select firms? no Handled by procurement department/ process yes, the general counsel/ legal department makes the selection 6 % 0.7 % 31 % 66.7 % it is a shared decision with executive management/ board 2.4 % Be more concerned with costs 3.26 % Be more practical 3.61 % Be more creative / innovative overall 3.91 % Understand the business better 3.96 % Provide more strategic advice 4.24 % Be more proactive 4.98 % Act on feedback 5.14 % Be more concerned with results 5.5 % Other 1.0 0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0

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