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w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m A P R I L 2 0 1 8 31 ACCOUNTING W hen Conduit Law LLP founder Peter Carayiannis announced in September that his firm would leave the Deloitte fold, there was much specu- lation on Bay Street about whether this signaled a retreat from legal services by one of the Big Four. In 2016, Deloitte hailed the arrival of the legal help outsource provider, noting in a press release that it would allow Deloitte to offer clients a "unique and more flexible approach to legal services" and "reflect the changing realities of the market." Eighteen months later, Conduit's abrupt departure was a shocking turnabout. Carayiannis wouldn't elaborate on what went wrong but simply said Conduit "can scale more rapidly as an independent firm." Deloitte declined an interview request. However, Carayiannis believes there is still the need for the two solitudes to work together. "Top law firms and the Big Four accounting firms do not have to fear each other." He says the two professions have to "realize that the client is looking for a solu- tion and usually doesn't care about who the actual provider is." His comments hint at the challenges ahead for Canadian law firms as the Big Four — KPMG, Deloitte, Ernst & Young and PricewaterhouseCoopers — ramp up their legal services globally. The Big Four now boast almost 9,000 lawyers practising law in their stables. (See Big Four by The Numbers, p. 33) It is naïve to think that North America is immune to the winds of change sweeping much of the legal world. It's more a question of when, not if. We are entering a new era where "co-opetition" will likely become the norm. One day, law firms will compete with the Big Four for work, and the next day they will work alongside them solving clients' business problems. The impact on refer- ral networks among the two professions, recruiting and client services will be pro- found. It will challenge legal management not just at big law firms but mid-sized and regional firms that currently covet a cozy relationship with their local Big Four office. It is also opening new career paths for lawyers. German lawyer Cornelius Grossmann, global law leader at EY, is one of the people FOR WORK LEGAL THE BIG FOUR ACCOUNTING BEHEMOTHS HAVE SUPPLANTED LAW FIRMS IN MANY COUNTRIES, AND CANADA MAY BE NEXT ON THEIR LIST By Jim Middlemiss