Canadian Lawyer InHouse

27 CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE MAY/JUNE 2018 As part of the cost pressures clients face, Scott says, external counsel have a respon- sibility to sit down and do early case assess- ment with clients to propose how the client and external counsel might work together and map it out between them. Osler is even helping clients who are han- dling large numbers of small litigation mat- ters with process-mapping software, which has turned into a form of litigation consult- ing work. "We're using our litigation exper- tise in non-traditional ways," she says. The firm has also been working on de- veloping a program where clients with in- house litigators send them to Osler for "boot camp" sessions on skills development in ar- eas such as how to argue a motion, conduct- ing a cross-examination or tips for drafting a pleading, for those who may not have done litigation before or have become rusty. The firm is also providing software tools for litigation support, for automating different parts of litigation. "Some might say, 'Are you not training people to eat your lunch? I'd say the answer is that the way businesses are going, if they are going to do a certain part of their liti- gation then we want to be able to support that and be a resource to them so that when the issues they are dealing with reach a level of complexity that they can't deal with in- house, they will have seen us as supporting their initiatives and their needs all along and will hopefully also invest in us when they have complex litigation," says Scott. Gordon of Clyde & Co agrees that in help- ing clients manage work they have decided is in their best interest to manage in-house, they may be more likely to stay loyal and continue to hand off more complex work. "We work with clients in a collaborative fashion," says Gordon. "Where larger mat- ters still go external that's where lawyers need to get more creative in responding to those needs. There needs to be a better un- derstanding of what client needs are." Clyde has a document review platform it uses with clients where clients can have access to the documents as well and leave comments. "I have clients now where they want weekly phone conferences and then they are kept informed on progress of the case we are dealing with that week," says Gordon. At the end of the day, a law firm that can adapt to clients being more directly in- volved is the responsive law firm that will be the most successful one, says Gordon. Clients are also getting savvy about the data they have in their systems on past liti- gation matters and they want to use it in the decision-making process and risk assess- ment process, says Gordon. "I think that is something lawyers also need to respond to — we need to look at our own data and the value of that data is an untapped resource. "No doubt when you look at the landscape right now clients are very sophisticated and they know how much litigation costs and how much they are prepared to spend and to do it more efficiently. What they are saying is you have to jump into this dialogue and start offering different ways to get things done, not just the traditional way. They're asking us to take on risk, get better at assess- ing risk — get stuff done quicker." IH At Pallett Valo LLP we give you what you need, not what you don't. With our flexibility and the right expertise in a variety of business law areas, we provide you with a legal solution that is tailored to suit you – all without compromising service or quality. If you want legal representation that's just the right fit for you, try on our Right-sized Thinking®. The Right Fit Matters Right-sized Thinking® • 1-800-323-3781 • pallettvalo.com Your Authority For: Business Law • Commercial Litigation • Commercial Real Estate Construction • Insolvency & Corporate Restructuring Employment & Labour • Wills, Estates & Trusts ntitled-2 1 2018-04-04 4:11 PM

• Cover