Canadian Lawyer - sample

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 7 35 with time/billings," said one — 68.3 per cent of those who took the survey said they choose firms based on specific law- yers, up by 2.7 per cent over last year. While Cullen says he's not surprised in- house counsel choose based on individuals — after all, "you don't hire a company or a firm, you're hiring people you work with, human beings" — for him, it's more about building a long-term relationship with a firm as a whole. But he notes that if you are a client of sufficient influence, you can ensure a par- ticular partner or associate is getting good work and is involved in strategic discus- sions. "I put my own skin in the game to ensure to [the] best of abilities they're happy with what they're doing — I con- tinue to provide good opportunities," Cul- len says. For Denis, too, it's more about the firm as a whole. He looks for innovation above all else, noting that while all firms might say they're innovative, he checks things such as if e-discovery is done the old-fash- ioned way or whether they have the capac- ity to leverage AI and predictive coding. "I'd rather focus on a firm's capacity in terms of efficiency, productivity and inno- vation — real innovation," he says. Carrying over from the last few years is a decline in the use of alternative fee arrangements — 3.2 per cent said AFAs were the billing arrangement they had with their primary law firm/external service provider, which was a slight drop from 4.9 per cent last year and a considerable drop from 12.7 per cent in 2015. The billable hour came out on top again, with 50.5 per cent — essentially unchanged from 2016 and up from 46.8 per cent the year before. The combination of billable hours and AFAs was second with 44.7 per cent. "The discussion is amongst all circles — that conversation is continuing," says Slonosky, noting that looking for counsel who truly understand business issues is more important than how services are provided. When asked if they were interested in engaging firms in AFAs, 77.4 per cent of respondents said yes. Cullen says the dis- connect between the overwhelming desire for AFAs versus those who say they're actually using them stood out to him. He says there's too much of a focus on What are the key issues in your legal department? (Weighted average) Is the volume of legal work carried out by your department and external counsel combined likely to grow for your company in 2018 from 2017? Managing growth of company/organization Compliance/Regulatory matters Risk management Legal department management & structure/moving to legal operations Cost containment Cybersecurity 3.4 % 2.7 % 2.6 % 3.5 % 3.4 % 4.1 % 2.4 % 45.2 % 35.1 % 17.3 % ? Don't know Y 53.7 % 22.6 % If the volume of work is projected to grow, to what do you attribute the growth? 72.7 % Company is in growth mode 19.4 % One-time project 15.2 % Company made acquisition 0 1 to 4 5 to 10 More than 10 How many law firms are you using? Are you using Alternative Service Providers? What type of billing arrangement do you have with your primary law firm/external service provider? Billable hours Flat fees Combination of billable hours and alternative fee arrangements (AFAs) AFAs 50.5 % 44.7 % 1.6 % 3.2 % Onshore Offshore Both Not using 8% 3% 5.1% 84% N 23.7 %

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