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The global shortage of qualified lawyers is so severe, that in addition to U.S. law firms recruiting Canadian talent, U.K. law firms have started to actively poach lawyers here too. As U.S. and U.K. law firms have lured away talent from Canada, the pressure for law firms to fill vacant positions at home has increased.

 “There is definitely a growth in demand for legal specialists all across the country,” says Jon Veale, director of the permanent placement division at Robert Half Legal in Toronto. “We’re seeing associates being asked to make a decision to specialize much earlier in their careers than their counterparts from a few years ago. We are getting requests for particular skill sets such as securities law and intellectual properties — and to be able to fill those positions, more law firms are taking the initiative in looking abroad and recruiting globally.”

One such example, says Veale, is a client in the biotechnology sector who expanded their search for a patent agent on a global level and ended up finding a lawyer in Israel who moved back to Canada to take on this role. This is no longer outside the norm as both Canadian lawyers who have international experience with a major law firm, as well as those seeking to develop expertise in another country, are becoming highly sought after.

According to the report “Managing a Global Workforce” published by Robert Half Legal, since 2000, the 250 largest firms in the U.S. have doubled the number of their lawyers in Europe and increased their number of lawyers in Asia and Latin America by 60 and 42 per cent respectively. Many of those lawyers are being plucked from Canada’s top law schools – “New York law firms are always interested in Canadian talent from McGill and U of T,” says Veale – while other associates are lured away from existing employers.

“Some candidates are getting calls from headhunters the day after their profile goes up on their firm’s website,” says Warren Smith, regional director for BC for the Counsel Network.

Positions in such major hubs as London and New York City bring with them the opportunity to earn top salaries as well as to gain experience with some of the best available transactional work in the world, says Smith. “Another motivation is being able to spend a weekend in the Swiss Alps, go shopping in Paris or spend three days in Florence, which is about 1,000 times more likely if you’re working in London than if you’re in Calgary.”

But there is a significant downside for law firms in Canada. When a lawyer moves from one firm to another in Toronto, the pool of lawyers stays the same, explains Smith. But when a U.K. firm comes to Canada and hires 10 lawyers out of the market, the pool of talent shrinks, which means more work to go around for the lawyers who do stay behind.

“At this stage, firms are simply interested in meeting qualified candidates regardless of available openings, and are even over-staffing in order to prepare for the future,” says Veale.

Globalization is also affecting in-house counsel lawyers as the amount of merger and acquisition activities increase. Multinational companies are facing increases in challenges and work-load but not in their budgets or their legal staffing.

“We’ve received an increase in requests for lawyers to work on a contract basis for six-month or one-year periods to alleviate pressures on existing counsel,” says Veale.

Meanwhile, in attempts to retain their associates, some firms are offering secondments to work in an in-house environment, as well as opportunities to work in affiliate offices to give them an international flavour.

While billable work requirements have remained the same for most practice groups, some law firms are offering fixed hour arrangements for lawyers who work in a non-transaction environment, says Veale.

These kinds of arrangements are key to reducing the increasing attrition and burnout rates. As salaries continue to rise in response to market pressures, associates are increasingly choosing where to work based on other criteria — such as the sophistication of the clients they would work with, the reputation of the law firm in the marketplace and the ability to work in a practice group that offers training in an area they want to develop expertise in.

“For law firms to retain their associates...communication is really, really important,” says Smith.

“Today’s associate wants to know their work is being appreciated. This concept is one still foreign to partners but the reality is, more lawyers are leaving for less money and less complex work in exchange for better mentorship, feedback and communication on the job.

“This is a generation that wants to know they are on the right path. I’m meeting more and more lawyers who are saying ‘I’m not interested in making $300,000 a year and working insane hours for the rest of my life. I’d rather do work I enjoy for $120,000 a year and still make a lucrative salary doing it.’”