BUSINESS
CAREERS
Making the
most of your
lateral move
to new firm
THE HEADHUNTER
WARREN
SMITH
Class action take-up rates are low because settlements are overly-complicated and lead to confusion for consumers, say lawyers.
Over the years, I’ve had the
opportunity to work with a
number of partners who have
transitioned their practice from
one firm to another, and while
most ultimately make a successful transition, some make it
more quickly, more smoothly
and more easily than others. So
what are the lessons learned
from those who make the most
of their lateral move in the market? Here are a few observations and trends I’ve seen
amongst the more successful
recent laterals.
Class action conundrum
A growing chorus of concerned lawyers say that class action lawsuits rarely lead to big payouts for consumers
LUIS MILLAN
Nearly three decades after class
actions made their first appearance
in the Canadian legal landscape, little
light has been shed over the propor-
tion of class members who make a
claim, which hasn’t stopped some
from speculating that the numbers
are so low that they call into question
the need for class proceedings.
“Where there is money set aside
for individual plaintiffs and they have
to apply for the funds, anybody who
did the research would find that
there’s very little uptake and the
funds that are unapplied for are
given to charitable organizations,”
asserts William Vanveen, a former
assistant law professor at the Univer-
sity of Windsor’s faculty of law, now a
partner with Gowling Lafleur Hen-
derson LLP in Ottawa. “The lack of
application for relief to the funds by
directly affected plaintiffs indicates to
me that there isn’t a great social need
for these actions.”
While that is a position that res-
onates with many class practitioners,
including even at times lawyers
representing non-profit consumer
organizations frustrated sometimes
by the few number of claimants who
step forward to claim their share of
the pie, it is largely speculative, said
Pierre-Claude Lafond, a law profes-
sor at the Université de Montréal and
the author of a book on class actions.
In fact, Lafond points out that the
issue has never been studied, at least
not in Canada.
Define success up front
While it is easy to get caught
up in the excitement of taking
your career in a new direction,
it is important to remember
why you made the move in the
first place.
What will your measure of
success be one, two or five years
from now? What are you looking to accomplish in this next
phase of your career? How will
you know you’ve been successful? How will your new partners know it has been a success? Knowing the answers to
these questions will help guide
your practice focus and development, positioning you and your
firm to make best use of your
collective resources and profile
in the market.
Top grade your practice
KOUN / ISTOCKPHOTO.COM
One of the frequent challenges lawyers face when moving
firms is the fear of no clients
following them. It never ceases
to amaze me how insecure certain partners are as to the
strength of their client relationships, irrespective of past success. Many partners are afraid
to say no to a client that wants
to follow them, for fear of not
having the billings to justify
their existence at the new firm.
See Lateral moves Page 28
