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The View from Canada: A Winning Client Development Strategy

By Tracy A. Holotuk
June 01, 2004

Everyone agrees that the world for those delivering legal services to Fortune 500 clients is in a state of tremendous flux. Demands placed on lawyers and firms to deliver for their clients have never been more challenging, or potentially more rewarding. This new reality has created an enormous opportunity for Canadian law firms with the ability to offer service in the U.S., and it also creates an opportunity for U.S. firms to gain access to a rich talent pool.

A first-of-its-kind survey conducted almost a decade ago by Statistics Canada indicated that there was a fairly balanced level of cross border trade in legal services ' with Canada enjoying a modest $55-million surplus on total two-way business of almost half a billion dollars. With the growth of North American Free Trade, and the general economic growth of the last decade, it would be logical to assume consistent, healthy growth in the value of cross-border legal services, but that has not been the case. Over the years, the professional services industry has experienced lower than expected referral flow on both sides.

Against that backdrop, it wouldn't be a surprise if ' even as the integration of the North American market for legal services continues ' not every American law firm is aware of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG). After all, Canada's second largest firm is fairly young in its present incarnation, built from a merger in March 2000 of five equal founding firms. Each of the founding firms was a market leader in their respective regions of Canada, and each brought solid reputations with various levels of awareness south of the border as independent firms.

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