‘ Some sisters are definitely richer’
RUBIN
Does this help bring Pfizer into the Torys fold in the U.S.? Time will tell. In the meantime, we can report he will not be getting Mr. Miller’s old office.
30 BODIES TIMES 15 WEEKS
EQUALS MYSTERY FILE
Interested in a contract that involves long hours poring over documents with no hope of a job? Have we got a position for you. Osler Hoskin & Harcourt seems to have nabbed itself a mystery ( well, it’s a mystery to us) file and needs to ramp up with bodies to staff it. We know this because an e-mail has been going around for a couple of weeks asking people if they have litigator-type friends looking for some short-term work.
“ We are currently staffing, on a rush basis, contract positions in the Toronto office Litigation Department,” according to the note. “We are looking to fill as many as 30 positions. The positions require substantive review of documents using sophisticated databases and software programs for a large class- action file.
“ The ideal candidate would be a first or second-year lawyer, with some experience at a large firm [however we would be interested in receiving applications from all interested candidates]. Please note: this position is strictly contract, lasting approximately 3 to 4 months with the possibility of extension. As these are not permanent positions, the recruitment bonus is not applicable.”
No recruitment bonus? Hmm, they didn’t specifically rule out a “rush” incentive. But don’t rush to phone. We’re told the firm has enough applications.
We turned to a noted legal mathematician — OK, he knows how to make money so maybe he’s more of a legal alchemist — for guidance.
He crunched the numbers, and 30 people billing out at $ 300 an hour, a conservative figure, times 50 hours a week comes out to $450,000 a week. Multiply that by 12 weeks over $5-million before any of Oslers’ real litigators (read $700-$750 an hour) docket even a moment of their time.
“It’s good to be Oslers,” says someone who’s not. “There may be Seven Sisters — but some sisters are definitely richer than others.”
Naturally, everyone is agog to know what the file is. It’s not Vioxx, because McCarthys is handling that. Oslers acts for Imperial Tobacco, and with that kind of money to throw around it’s probably safe to assume it’s bet-the-company litigation. You’d think tobacco, pharma or financial institution.
We were unable to torture anyone at Oslers into telling us so we leave you with this thought: Michael McKelvey of Borden Ladner Gervais was before Justice Maurice Cullity in Toronto last week on the SARS class action. He told the court the firm has completed 50% of its review of the documentation in the past six months and it has another 15,000 documents still to review.
Perhaps BLG is subcontracting the work to Oslers.
MARGOT AND AL AND VISTA AND GOWLINGS
In Calgary,
Margot Micallef has joined Gowlings as counsel to advise on M&A and communications, although she’ll keep her position as chair and CEO of Vista Broadcast Group, which holds licences for 19 B.C. radio stations. It is a highly unusual arrangement.
The plan was hatched after Al Jochelson, a corporate type at Gowlings and longtime friend of Ms. Micallef, invited her to speak at an M& A conference earlier this year. Believe it or not, over coffee, they discussed the changing practice of law, which translated into Ms. Micallef meeting Scott Jolliffe, Gowlings managing partner.
Ms. Micallef, former senior vice-president of law and general counsel at Shaw Communications, pitched him on the notion that clients are looking for lawyers who are more well-rounded, who have experience with the type of things they’re getting advice on.
As Oscar Wilde said, experience is the one thing you can’t get for nothing. The way we see it, that makes it a natural companion to legal advice.
Financial Post
srubin@ nationalpost. com