Canadian Lawyer InHouse

21 CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE JULY 2016 fi nancial criteria, education criteria, lan- guage criteria, because we do a lot of work in Quebec . . . and we take that criteria and then see who would fi t the bill. It's sort of like a defacto RFP or a sort of informal RFP. I don't need the dinners; I don't need the free gifts. We have a no gifts policy. SOCCIO: I've been involved with RFPs with fi rms on a "bet the company" case — liti- gation or some sort of specifi c transaction where you want to see what the two or three top lawyers in certain fi rms are going to do for you and what strategy they have, or what would be their costs. But on a day to day, I agree with Lara that you're going to have your contacts in the fi rms that you use regularly and when a matter comes up, you know, you're not going to RFP for that matter. We have no formal RFP process at Navistar Canada, but there is always a negotiation, there's always a discussion, there's always a request for a budget, in an informal way. THOUIN: We have an informal roster and we do use RFPs for particular projects. If it's a very large project or a large contractu- al arrangement or some very meaty kind of matter that will require a budget, a project plan, that's a situation where I would look to get an RFP with a very set criteria of what it is we're looking for, and I think most of the time law fi rms respond well to that. We're also in a speciality area so there are only so many fi rms that do what we do, or, at least, can assist us with what we do. So if it's a smaller matter, there's a group of law fi rms where I can pick up the phone and negotiate a specifi c piece of work. YOUNG: I have not used an RFP yet in Canada. I'm primarily focused on ensur- ing that we have strong relationships with the lawyers I think have the right expertise and perspectives for us, and I think that is going to go much further for the type of work that we do in terms of managing cost than a formal structure like an RFP process would. One of the fi rst things I did when I came in was to reduce the number of rela- tionships that we had with external fi rms. The purpose of that was to ensure that we were investing in the fi rm as much as the fi rm was investing in us. I think when you are able to give more business to fewer fi rms, you are helping them better under- stand your business and that's going to help you in the long run. • INHOUSE: Are you looking at alternative fee arrangements or is this still early days for that kind of approach? SOCCIO: We have a mixed bag of alternative fee arrangements, from caps to volume dis- counts, and a combination of arrangements like that. I see it as a continuing trend and there's going to be a lot more pressure on law fi rms to commoditize their services or come up with a better way to show they're providing value to a corporation be it on a piece of litigation or a transaction. SPEIRS: I think certain subject matters really lend themselves to alternative fee ar- rangements and it's absolutely the way of the future. At Randstad, we have several niche areas that are managed with alterna- tive fee arrangements such as repetitive When they do, we can help. Our industry-leading employment and labour law expertise means our clients are always prepared and never alone. If it's about your workplace, we're the only call you need to make. Workplace issues can pop any time. RANKED C A N A D I A N L AW Y E R M A G A Z I N E Y E Y R www.sherrardkuzz.com | 416.603.0700 | 24 Hour 416.420.0738 250 Yonge St #3300, Toronto, ON M5B 2L7 | @SherrardKuzz Untitled-3 1 2016-06-03 11:12 AM

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