Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP

By Penny Harvie

Over the last several years, many articles have suggested the different nature and interests of young professionals – law school graduates are less likely to stay with the firm they start with, and less likely to see partnership as a desired goal. We know many graduates view a law degree as an adjunct to a business degree and preparation to pursue future entrepreneurial interests. At Fasken Martineau DuMoulin (FMD), although FMD’s associate attrition rates have remained relatively stable over the past few years, we’ve been challenged in making gains in the retention of the associates to augment FMD’s ability to deliver excellent client service at the right practice level in a very busy market. We recognized that these challenges were not unique to FMD’s firm; they are at least citywide and perhaps even profession-wide.

In the Fall of 2005, then Managing Partner of the FMD Vancouver office, Sue Paish, QC, struck an internal Associate Task Force with a mandate to review associate life at FMD.

The Task Force was due in part to the 2005 Catalyst study of over 1400 Canadian lawyers which reported some chilling statistics: 62 per cent of female associates and 47 per cent of male associates are expected to leave their firms within five years; average cost to a firm of an associate’s departure is $315,000; and women and men reported the same factors as important if they were to change firms: an environment more supportive of family/personal commitments, and more control over work schedules. Retention of talent arguably underpins every other factor critical to a law firm’s success and the Catalyst study confirmed it’s becoming a tougher challenge.

The Task Force met frequently and spent considerable time discussing associate issues and possible recommendations. We developed an Associate Survey which was completed by 75 per cent of the associates on an anonymous basis. Two main themes emerged from the Associate Survey: desire for better work/life balance and better mentoring/training. The Task Force also reviewed the statistics on associate attrition rates, compensation and part-time work arrangements; and numerous industry journals, articles and other materials.

At the mandate’s conclusion, the Task Force report to the Managing Partner contained 17 recommendations; some were easy to implement: such as setting up a series of in-house seminars on non-work issues such as financial planning, personal investing and tax planning. Others required process changes, including the development of better career planning and evaluation tools. Many of the recommendations have now been implemented. One suggestion was the creation of a dedicated professional associate coordinator in order to ensure that the Task Force recommendations were implemented and to provide ongoing support for the firm’s associates. It was also recognized that although many of the recommendations required partner involvement, when they are left solely to partners to implement, client issues and billable work can push this work off the day’s agenda. A dedicated associate coordinator would be able to oversee all aspects of the firm’s associate program. This particular recommendation was implemented at the start of this year, and as the first incumbent I am delighted to have been offered this tremendous opportunity to make a difference in the lives of current and future associates at FMD.

Penny Harvie, Director, Professional Personnel, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, Vancouver

This article was published in the June 2007 issue of BarTalk and is subject to the copyright by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, 2007, all rights reserved.