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CCCA62_018-025.qxd:CCCA_V1No2_Recruiting-V1.qxd 09/14/2007 02:31 PM Page 19 “ The lawyer’s first question The lawyer’s first question should not be,‘What are the legal should not be,‘What are the legal issues here?’ but, ‘What are we trying issues here?’ but, ‘What are we trying ” to achieve on a business level?’ to achieve on a business level?’ David Brennan, Senior Vice-President David Brennan, Senior Vice-President Law and General Counsel Law and General Counsel Ontario Power Generation, Toronto Ontario Power Generation, Toronto urn to the career pages of any legal publication statistics tell a similar tale. Membership numbers have nearly T counsel.While major law firms grab headlines as ping 9,185 this year. doubled in the past seven years: from 5,000 in 2000 to a whop- and you’ll see them: ad after ad for in-house they duke it out for partners and associates, cor- Tporate law departments have quietly gone on a Better and cheaper hiring spree at every level, from junior lawyers three years out to The biggest reasons driving that growth? seasoned specialists and general counsel. To begin with, there’s the overarching issue of cost, says David It’s a trend that dates back to the turn of the millennium, says Brennan, senior vice-president, law and general counsel of Christopher Sweeney, chairman of ZSA Legal Recruitment in Ontario Power Generation in Toronto.“Law firms have isolated Toronto. “When the private practice world was shaken quite a themselves from the real world for a long time, and they increase bit by the implosion of the dot-com economy, the in-house their hourly rates every year,” he says. As a result,“we’re seeing departments started really beefing up,”he explains.“They haven’t astronomical hourly rates.” looked back since.” To his way of thinking, instead of forking over $700 an hour In 2000, corporate legal recruitment represented a mere 15 to for a Bay Street lawyer, it makes better fiscal sense to bring the ALENA GEDEONOVA departments that were three people are now ten,and law depart- employment and labour relations. work in-house whenever there is sufficient demand.At Ontario 20% of ZSA’s business. Now it accounts for a full 50%. “Law Power Generation, the legal department now totals two dozen ments that didn’t exist, now exist,” Sweeney says. lawyers and handles everything from intellectual property to The Canadian Corporate Counsel Association’s (CCCA) AUTOMNE 2007 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association 19