Canadian Lawyer

Tough economy keeping legal fees steady according to this year's Canadian Lawyer Legal Fees Survey. By Michael McKiernan 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 N E 2 0 1 6 49 C anada's uncertain economic out- look has the country's lawyers spooked, with a healthy major- ity opting against a price hike this year. According to the results of Canadian Lawyer's 2016 Legal Fees Survey, 55 per cent of respondents will freeze their prices over the next year, while a further three per cent intend to cut their rates. Just 42 per cent are planning a price boost, the lowest rate in three years. In Alberta, where the economic effects of the world- wide oil price plunge has hit hardest, the numbers are even more stark, with 66 per cent of respondents reporting a no-change approach, plus another seven per cent who will give their clients a price break in the next year. By con- trast, only 28 per cent plan to increase their rates. Many respondents specifically cited the recessive economy for the decision, including one lawyer at a mid-size Calgary firm who reported the current market had forced a price freeze on it "in spite of higher overheads." Elsewhere in the country, a number of respondents blamed economic woes on their pricing decisions, but several predicted recent volatility could precipitate a big- ger change in the legal profession as some longer-term pricing habits finally come home to roost. "The profession is going to meet firm resistance to continual fee increases. The public cannot afford them," wrote one rural sole prac- titioner, whose gloomy outlook was shared by another respondent who works at the opposite end of the legal spectrum: "There is a general reluctance among colleagues to admit that what worked in the past no longer works currently and certainly not in the future," wrote the lawyer from a large Bay Street firm in Toronto. Our annual survey assesses the going rate for 45 dif- ferent matters across nine practice areas: civil litigation, Going Rate The

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