Experienced Lawyers
Collegial Environment
Our associates are our future
We look for associates whom we believe have the potential to join us in partnership. Because of this, we don't regard our associates as human capital to be leveraged.
We don't have minimum billing hours and we don't treat their billable hours each month as a measure of their worth. We expect our associates to work hard, not because of billable hour targets but because we are working together towards common goals, namely to provide the most sophisticated and efficient representation to our clients and to continually develop the breadth and depth of our legal talent pool and intellectual capital.
We treat our associates as we would like to be treated -- as real people. We offer a collegial and non-hierarchical environment where our lawyers can thrive professionally. We are transparent with the firm's strategies, results and managerial decision making process. We welcome suggestions from all quarters on how to advance the firm's results over both the short-term and the long-term.
Professional Development
Genuine development opportunities
We devote an extraordinary amount of time and effort to identifying and recruiting top talent and we commit significant resources to their professional development. We believe that better associates become better partners, so we help our associates to develop technical excellence, an understanding of the complexities of the industries in which our clients operate and the skills generally to serve as well-rounded counselors and advocates in both contentious and non-contentious settings. Our approach relies upon 3 cornerstone principles:
1. Access to Clients, Regulators and Counterparties
We delegate substantial responsibility to our associates. From the very beginning, our associates work directly with clients, regulators and transactional counterparties on significant matters under the firm's close supervision. This direct contact enables our associates to learn about different facets of the industries in which our clients operate and to appreciate market norms. We believe that these benefits would not be possible if our associates were limited to receiving instructions from more senior lawyers.
2. Opportunities for Multi-Disciplinary Learning
We expect our associates to practise across a range of legal disciplines, including corporate law, securities law, banking law and general commercial law. We expect them to engage in their own legal research and to develop an understanding not only of prevailing market practices but also of the laws underlying these practices. We believe that this approach produces complete, well-rounded lawyers with breadth, sophistication and depth of knowledge of a wide variety of legal disciplines, the ability to think independently and creatively and the skills to identify and resolve legal issues in cutting edge work where market practices have yet to evolve or where market practices are not suitable.
3. Mentoring
We actively mentor our associates, guiding them in their development and instilling in them the confidence to approach legal problems. Each hire is the beginning of a process of continued communication.
4. Road to Partnership
We have no bureaucracy and we have no pre-conceived timelines for partnership. You don't have to be a 10 year associate to become a partner. All you need to do is to demonstrate the ability to take on the responsibilities of partnership. If you have what it takes, you will advance quickly within the firm.
Partnership Opportunities
Real Responsibility. A True Meritocracy.
Our associates get as much responsibility as they can handle from the start.
Under our supervision and guidance, they attend meetings to speak to clients and to counterparties, not to take notes; they draft correspondence and documents, not photocopy them. Our associates often assume day-to-day responsibility for the conduct of client matters and serve as the regular point of contact between ourselves and the client.
If you have what it takes, you will advance quickly within the firm.
We have no bureaucracy and we have no pre-conceived timelines for partnership. You don't have to be a 10 year associate to become a partner. All you need to do is to demonstrate the ability to take on the responsibilities of partnership.