The Lawyers Weekly - December 3, 2010

BUSINESS
CAREERS

JEREMY HAINSWORTH

The seven words you can’t say on television may have netted comedian George Carlin a lot of laughs but they could net North American professionals a load of trouble.

Between the suggested
removal of a sitting Ontario judge
last year in part for off-colour
remarks and the bathroom-
tainted remarks of Wall Street
traders, intemperate language in
stressful professions has begun to
make headlines.

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And, while at least one member of the CBA’s ethics committee says that may work for some, for others, the lack of rules may be a problem.

Further, says Paul Paton, who has written for The Lawyers Weekly, the issue could go as deep as law schools— if not further.

But in the Canadian legal profession, law firms seem by and large content to leave the issue to the common sense and professional discretion of individual practitioners while counsel practicing in government or business are governed by general codes of conduct.

The use of profane language became an issue in the U.S. earlier this year after the use of swearing in an email by an employee of an investment banking and securities firm became an issue. New York-based Goldman Sachs company told employees that they will no longer be able to get away with profanity in electronic messages.

“[B]oy, that timberwo[l]f was one s— deal,” Thomas Montag, who helped run Goldman’s securities business, wrote in a June 2007 email that was repeatedly referred to at a Senate hearing, The New York Times reported.

Now, the company has a ban enforced by screening software. Even swear words spelled with asterisks are out, the Times reported, adding the edict was delivered verbally.

While other U.S. investment firms have similar policies, in Canada, there seems to be no clear trend in the legal profession.

Paton says bad language can arise from the stresses of practice but adds it is not an excuse and does not remove the need to handle things better.

“You can be a very strong or
zealous advocate without being
disrespectful,” Paton says. “Lan-
guage comes into that.”
He says sanctions need to be
enforced and the issue dealt
with in law schools before it
manifests itself as a greater
problem down the road.

Popularity of small-town law to grow?

appearances become available. In smaller communities, you hit the ground running from your first day on the job.

Obviously, many lawyers want to and should gravitate to large firms in big cities. There’s no point heading out of town if you want to do securitization or mergers and acquisitions, or if you have your eye on overseas work. And many people simply prefer to live in the metropolitan world, for reasons ranging from diversity and nightlife to opportunities to take an evening and see the ballet or the local pro sports franchise.

There’s also the question whether law schools do a good enough job publicizing opportunities outside the city limits. Many

Growth

Continued From Page 23

law school career offices lack the resources to do more than refer students to the big firms, whose presence on campus has never been more overwhelming.

But it’s an open question whether big firms will continue to hire and expand as they have in the past. The gradual but inexorable transition to value billing is going to force firms to reconsider the traditional role of associate leverage in partner profitability. Large firms simply might require fewer lawyers in their formative years, and those lawyers have to go somewhere to pay the bills.

The generational factor has to
be considered too. When millen-
nials talk about prioritizing family
and lifestyle over earning and
advancement opportunities, they
mean it. The attractions of living in
smaller communities or in smaller
cities far from central Canada are
real, and cross-country mobility
has never been easier or cheaper.