Satisfactio. guaranteed

Transcription

1 Satisfactio guaranteed O Very ne of Norman Yusim s clients called the law society about him. A nightmare scenario? Just the opposite he phoned to praise him. It s true one client of Yusim, a family lawyer with Fillmore Riley in Winnipeg, was so pleased with the services he received that he called the Law Society of Manitoba to register a compliment. The client was giving voice to something that many people feel but don t often say: they think their lawyers are excellent. simply, the vast majority of lawyers are hardworking, decent people 20 NATIONAL

2 on Too often, we only hear about the lawyer-client relationships that have gone wrong, while tens of thousands of great relationships never get reported or discussed. National profiles four of the many Canadian lawyers whose clients think the world of them, and finds common threads that link all these satisfying relationships. By Bill Rogers lawyer and client? National decided to find examples of these relationships, and to interview both lawyer and client about what makes them tick. The four profiles that follow demonstrate what great lawyer-client relationships all have in common: The client feels like he or she is the lawyer s sole client the level of service is personal and the level of dedication to the client s needs is substantial. The lawyer is a calm and steadying presence in the client s often-chaotic life, providing reassurance and strength in difficult or challenging times. The lawyer inspires confidence. The lawyer knows the client s needs in the commercial context, the lawyer understands the client s business and cares enough to keep informed about it. The client and the lawyer are on the same page they have realistic expectations about the relationship, they communicate often, and they listen to one another. The fact is, there are plenty of happy clients out there who think their lawyers are just great. These four lawyer-client relationships are just examples there are thousands upon thousands like them developing and flourishing in Canada every day. Howard Spalding Barry Spalding, Saint John ROD STEARS Client Luc Marcoux (in-house counsel with Day & Ross) with lawyer Howard Spalding (Barry Spalding LLP), Saint John I m not looking for a fancy opinion. I m looking for a great result. And Howard did a great job for us. «Je ne veux pas d un avocat qui se cache derrière une opinion recherchée. C est le résultat qui compte et Howard a fait un très bon travail.» in a helping profession, providing valued services to their clients. It s easy to lose sight of this fact, however, in part because it s the disgruntled clients not the gruntled ones who tend make their views known the most loudly. Law society disciplinary hearings tell everyone about the lawyer-client relationships that went bad. But what about the great number that go very well every day, that have evolved into strong, trusting, win-win relationships between In the trucking industry, road accidents can happen at any time, day or night. That s why Howard Spalding gave his home phone number to client Luc Marcoux of megatrucking firm Day & Ross. I ve never called him in the middle of the night, Marcoux laughs. But I do have all his numbers. Marcoux, who is himself a lawyer (an inhouse counsel with Day & Ross), is currently overseeing ongoing litigation across Canada and in the U.S. He first hired Spalding five years ago to take over a lawsuit two short weeks before trial. I m not looking for a fancy opinion, he explains. I look for a good result. And Howard did a great job for us. Plus, says Marcoux, he s always calm. Things don t faze Howard. It s good. You need someone to calm you down from time to time. Spalding himself used to drive transport trucks before he became a lawyer, and this skill set comes in handy. He understands the terminology, says Marcoux. If he has to meet a client who is a truck driver, he knows how to talk to them. It makes things a lot easier for us. This client relationship is actually second-generation: Marcoux s father first employed Spalding as a trucker, to haul freight for the family construction business. Driving the big rigs sort of gets in your blood, Spalding says. Even after he SEPTEMBRE

3 Lawyer Norman Yusim (Fillmore & Riley) with client Leila Whitney, Winnipeg Since I ve hired him, I ve had little or no headaches. He handles all of my cares and concerns. «Je considère Yusim comme mon bras droit. Il explique tout de façon claire et concise.» became a lawyer, he still did it on occasion, and at one point he purchased an 18-wheeler and operated it as a sideline. Spalding doesn t drive the rigs anymore, but he agrees that his on-the-road experience gives him a better understanding from the driver s perspective. I know what it s like to drive those things. And it s not easy. Spalding went into law because he liked the idea of helping people, and he s glad he made the career move. Law has been marvellous, he says. I really enjoy it. I have no desire to retire. He figures that practising in New Brunswick, a close-knit province of some 800,000 inhabitants, is a bit different than Bay Street, in that it s easier to make friends with clients. I ve met some wonderful people and made lasting friendships, he says. Camaraderie is essential, Marcoux agrees. I like to have lawyers I can chat with, kid around a bit, and eventually meet them and have a good relationship with them, so that if I need to call them at three o clock in the morning because I have a catastrophic accident, it s no big deal. Marcoux sees only one problem: Howard s good, very responsive. The only thing is the more I spread the word about that, the less available he might be for me! Norman Yusim Fillmore & Riley, Winnipeg If somebody told a lawyer joke, I laughed, says Michael Johnson, who hired Winnipeg family lawyer Norman Yusim to handle his divorce. I never had anything much to do with lawyers until I had to go through this. The average Joe Blow going through a divorce has no idea what the laws are, what you have to do, what s expected, or anything like that, he continues. Norm walked me right through it. I can t say enough good about him. One thing Johnson particularly appreciates about Yusim is his telephone policy: all calls are returned within 24 hours. Plus, his outgoing phone message is always updated to apprise callers of his whereabouts. You phone him, says Johnson, and if you get his answering machine, it tells you whether he s going to be in court for the morning, so then you know not to expect a call until the afternoon. His service is top-notch. Johnson adds that Yusim is a comforting, steady presence during the turmoil of divorce. It s a stressful time in your life. But Norm s as cool as a cucumber. Sheri Perkins, another of Yusim s clients, agrees. Norm has been an amazing support while I ve been going through my divorce, she says. It has not been amicable very, very stressful. Norm has a very calming way about him. She says Yusim is perceptive enough to know when he has to pull me off the ceiling when something s going wrong. We ve gone through a lot, and I ve got good strong family support but if it hadn t been for Norm calming me down many, many times, and talking me through things and ROBERT TINKER 22 NATIONAL

4 Satisfaction garantie Des clients satisfaits des services de leurs conseillers juridiques? Ça existe! Le cauchemar de plusieurs s est transformé en véritable rêve pour Norman Yusim, un juriste en droit de la famille de Winnipeg. Son client est entré en contact avec la Société du Barreau du Manitoba pour déposer un compliment! Les relations entre client et avocat qui tournent au vinaigre ont bonne presse. Pourtant, nombreux sont les clients qui ne tarissent pas d éloges envers leur conseiller juridique. Plusieurs ont su bâtir, avec leur avocat, une relation de confiance durable où les deux parties sont gagnantes. National vous présente quatre juristes très appréciés et leurs clients satisfaits. Howard Spalding Barry Spalding, Saint John Dans l industrie du camionnage, les accidents peuvent survenir à toute heure. Howard Spalding a donc laissé son numéro à domicile à son client, Luc Marcoux, de la compagnie de camionnage Day & Ross. «Je ne l ai jamais appelé au milieu de la nuit», raconte toutefois Marcoux en riant. La très bonne relation d affaires entre Marcoux et Spalding a débuté lorsque Marcoux, lui-même avocat et conseiller juridique chez Day & Ross, a requis les services de Spalding deux semaines avant le début d un procès. Dans une pareille situation, Marcoux ne veux pas d un avocat qui se cache derrière une longue opinion recherchée. «C est le résultat qui compte, et Howard a fait un très bon travail». Il lui a donné d autres mandats par la suite. Louangeant son sang-froid et sa connaissance de l industrie Spalding a déjà été camionneur Marcoux souligne l importance pour un avocat de savoir comment communiquer avec ses clients. «Ça rend les choses plus faciles pour nous», affirme-t-il. Spalding a choisi de poursuivre une carrière en droit parce qu il voulait aider les gens. Il croit qu il est plus facile de fraterniser avec ses clients lorsque l on pratique au Nouveau-Brunswick. «Ce n est pas Bay Street», lance-t-il. D ailleurs, la camaraderie est essentielle pour qu une relation entre avocat et client réussisse, estime Marcoux. «J aime pouvoir discuter et rigoler un peu avec les juristes que j engage.» Norman Yusim Fillmore & Riley, Winnipeg Michael Johnson n avait jamais eu affaire à un avocat avant son divorce. «La personne moyenne qui est aux prises avec un divorce ne connaît pas les lois et ne sait pas à quoi s attendre», affirme-t-il. «Norm m a guidé à travers tout ça.» Johnson a particulièrement apprécié la politique de retour d appel de Yusim : tous les appels sont retournés dans un délai de 24 heures. Yusim informe aussi toujours ses clients de ses allés et venues. «Et si on tombe sur son répondeur, il nous dit s il est à la cour le matin, explique-t-il. On ne s attend pas alors à un retour d appel avant l après-midi.» Johnson insiste également sur la présence rassurante de Yusim durant les moments difficiles d un divorce. «Norm garde son sang-froid». Une autre cliente, Leila Whitney, considère que Yusim est son bras droit. Il s assure que ses clients comprennent l évolution de leur dossier, souligne-t-elle. «Il explique tout de façon claire et concise», dit-elle. Pour Yusim, cela est tout à fait normal. «C est mon travail», fait valoir le principal intéressé. «Les clients ne savent pas toujours que l on a fait du bon travail même si nous le savons, observe-t-il. Les gens déboursent de grosses sommes pour les services d un avocat et ne savent pas à quoi s attendre. C est à nous de leur donner ce qu il leur faut.» Jeff Hayes, Mark Standerwick, Sarah Mamoser Campbell Froh May & Rice Richmond, C.-B. Selon un sondage effectué en 2005 pour le compte de l Association canadienne des conseillers et conseillères juridiques d entreprises, 62% des conseillers juridiques d entreprise estiment que les connaissances pratiques concernant les affaires de l entreprise sont ce qui importe le plus lorsqu ils choisissent de faire affaire avec un juriste en pratique privée. Marie-France Leroi, avocate principale chez Terasen, une compagnie de gaz naturel de Vancouver, est particulièrement ravie des services qui lui sont fournis par ses avocats Jeff Hayes et Mark Standerwick, et par la stagiaire Sarah Mamoser, du cabinet Campbell Froh May & Rice. Terasen est souvent mêlée à des litiges concernant des servitudes sur des terrains où passent ses pipelines. Hayes s est chargé de plusieurs de ces dossiers. «Jeff connaît nos ingénieurs et il est familier avec les enjeux», remarque Leroi. «Si je dois tout expliquer à quelqu un, autant faire le travail moi-même». Pour bien connaître cette industrie, Hayes se réfère d abord à ses clients. «Des enseignants expérimentés, les ingénieurs de Terasen, m ont tout appris.» Mark Opashinov McMillan Binch Mendelsohn, Toronto Mark Opashinov peut parler intelligemment de peinture, de résine ou de mousse. C est ce qui le rend tellement précieux aux yeux de Shadi Dastranj, conseillère juridique chez BASF Canada, une compagnie de produits chimiques. «Au fil des ans, Mark s est familiarisé avec les divers secteurs de notre production», remarque Dastranj. «Il a eu à intervenir directement avec les hommes d affaires de notre entreprise et je n ai entendu que des commentaires positifs.» Pour Dastranj, il est important de connaître le marché et savoir poser les bonnes questions. Pour Opashinov, il s agit simplement de faire preuve de curiosité. «Il s agit d une compagnie très intéressante», affirme-t-il. Dastranj apprécie aussi la touche personnelle que Opashinov ajoute à son service. «Ça peut paraître un peu ridicule, explique-telle, mais Mark vous fait toujours sentir que vous passez en premier, que vous êtes son seul client même s il en a des centaines.» Pourquoi les clients de ces juristes sont si heureux? «Le service, le service et encore le service», répond Opashinov. Gageons que ses collègues en pensent tout, autant. N Yves Faguy SEPTEMBRE

5 making sure I m making an educated decision, not one that runs just on emotion, things wouldn t have gone nearly as well as they have. Perkins says she doesn t know many lawyers, but Yusim has given her a new perspective and respect for the profession. I m only speaking from my experience with Norm he really cares about his clients, she says. I have nothing but praise for him. You hear so many lawyer jokes. Norm s just changed my opinion. When Leila Whitney s marriage broke down, her friends recommended Yusim to her. Norman is like my right-hand man, she says. Since I hired him, I ve had little or no headaches. He handles all of my cares and concerns. If I m stressed out about the legal aspect of this, I know I can call Norm and he calls me back within minutes, maybe within the hour, depending on what his work schedule is. Yusim also makes sure his clients understand what s going Client Marie-France LeRoi (in house counsel with Terasen Inc., Vancouver) with Mark Standerwick, Jeff Hayes & Sarah Mamoser (Campbell Froh May & Rice, Richmond, B.C.) The most important thing is: do you know your stuff? If I have to spend a lot of time teaching somebody something, I might as well just do it myself. «Le plus important pour moi est que l avocat connaisse son sujet à fond. Si je dois tout expliquer à quelqu un, autant faire le travail moi-même.» on as the case progresses, she adds. He explains everything very clearly and concisely. And no question is dumb. He always makes sure I m always right there alongside him. There was a time we were in a case conference, and I was starting to get quite upset because I couldn t follow exactly what they were talking about. The lawyers were going back and forth with the judge talking about finances. So I sat back in my chair. And just from my body language, Norm knew I was getting distraught. So he just stopped everything and leaned across and asked LURENDA MASTROMONACO 24 NATIONAL

6 me: Are you okay? I told him I didn t know what they were talking about they had totally lost me. So he asked the judge for a minute and he took me aside. He explained everything. Yusim remains modest about all the praise he gets. It s my job, he says. Sometimes clients won t know if you ve done a good job or not for them but you know you ve done a good job for them. And that s what people want. They re paying a lot of money for lawyers. Often, they don t even know what they expect. But that s what I give them. Interestingly, Yusim may soon garner another glowing phone call. Says Michael Johnson: I m going to phone the law society. I don t know if they have awards to recognize lawyers like Norm. Jeff Hayes, Mark Standerwick, Sarah Mamoser Campbell Froh May & Rice Richmond, B.C. they place fill in the land. And when they do that, the pipe goes up. This often leads to litigation. Typically, the issue will involve a right-of-way obtained by Terasen for its gas pipeline that restricts the landowner from dumping fill. The landowner often counters with the assertion that the pipe is too fragile, or that they can put fill on their land if they feel like it. Jeff understands our pipes, she says. He knows our engineers, and he knows the issues involved. To me, that s the most important thing: Do you know your stuff? If I have to spend a lot of time teaching somebody something, I might as well just do it myself. With somebody like Jeff, you can call them up, and they According to the In-House Counsel Barometer, a 2005 survey of 1,187 in-house lawyers conducted by the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association (and sponsored by Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg), 62% of in-house lawyers said that when it comes to hiring outside counsel, they look for a lawyer with a good working knowledge of the company s business. So when Marie-France Leroi, Senior Solicitor with gas company Terasen in Vancouver, needs an outside lawyer, she targets someone who will understand the challenges her company faces. One such challenge is gas pipelines, and how they behave. We work with a whole bunch of really great lawyers, she says. And I hesitate to single out anybody, but if you want an example, I can tell you that Campbell Froh May & Rice do great work for us. In particular, Leroi gives the nod to lawyers Jeff Hayes and Mark Standerwick, as well as articling student Sarah Mamoser, who divides her work week between the firm and Terasen s offices. Sarah is very bright and enthusiastic, says Leroi. She turns around work very quickly and somehow manages to balance her files from Campbell Froh May & Rice with our work very gracefully. She never lets me down, and from what I ve heard from Jeff, her principal, she doesn t let them down either. Jeff Hayes does a lot of expropriation work for Terasen and has handled some important litigation. These are cases where people have been doing work on their land, through which our pipeline passes, Leroi explains. In Richmond and Surrey, the land is quite soft, boggy and swampy, she says. People are trying to develop those areas for housing or for light industrial use, so SEPTEMBRE

7 Mark Opashinov, McMillan Binch Mendelsohn, Toronto (client Shadi Dastranj, in-house counsel with BASF Canada, unavailable) Mark absolutely loves what he does. He s always very enthusiastic and passionate. «Mark vous fait toujours sentir que vous passez en premier, que vous êtes son seul client même s il en a des centaines.» know the issues as well as you do, Leroi continues. So you can have a chat and get a second opinion, whether it s a formal written opinion or just a chat that takes five minutes. It makes you feel more comfortable about the decision you make. Hayes also excels in customer service, adds Leroi. He returns calls promptly. I ve got the number for his cabin where he s on vacation right now. But for me, the most important thing is do you know your stuff? Jeff does. How does he know it? He listens to his clients. My gas pipeline education came at the hands of several exceptional and knowledgeable teachers the pipeline engineers at Terasen, who have always been very generous with their time, says Hayes. While in law school, I never would have imagined that I would be doing this kind of work or how genuinely interesting it continues to be. That dedication to the client s interests is reflected in articling student Sarah Mamoser s approach to her work. It s tempting to write a six-page memo to show you ve done all the background research, but for the client, a simple paragraph may suffice, says Mamoser, whose philosophy is simple: Give practical advice that recognizes the constraints of the client s industry. Mark Opashinov McMillan Binch Mendelsohn, Toronto With a host of products ranging from chemicals and polymers to automotive and industrial coatings, BASF, the world s largest chemical company, employs lawyers who need to know a whole lot about a wide range of topics. In turn, those lawyers look for outside counsel who fit that same bill. So Shadi Dastranj, Assistant General Counsel for BASF Canada, looks for outside counsel who can sit down and talk intelligently about paint, resin, insecticide, or foam. One of the lawyers who can do this is Mark Opashinov of McMillan Binch Mendelsohn in Toronto. What I ve found with Mark over the years is that he has really gotten to know our various business areas, says Dastranj. On some occasions, he has dealt directly with the business people in our company, and I ve received positive comments. For instance, making and selling agricultural products such as pesticides and herbicides presents some complicated and sophisticated marketing issues. Let s say from a competition standpoint, you might have an issue with the marketing of a particular product and co-branding it with a competitive product, Dastranj says. You have to get to know the in s and out s of the market, what each product does, what it controls. It s a very specific type of questioning that you have to do. And I ve been on conference calls with Mark and our businesspeople where he s really been able to go through those detailed questions. He does a really good job. Dastranj adds that Mark absolutely loves what he does. He s always very enthusiastic and passionate. Indeed, getting to know the workings of the various divisions of BASF satisfies Opashinov s innate curiosity. It s really quite an interesting company, he says. He speaks enthusiastically about another BASF product, foam insulation. I once toured the factory, he says. It s really cool. There s a whole area that just makes foam. There are people in the company whose lives are foam. They re experts in foam. Remarkable. When he was in law school, Opashinov says, he never envisioned himself in a hard hat touring a foam-making facility discussing tiny bubbles. It s quite neat, he says. The one other aspect that Dastranj really appreciates about Opashinov is client focus. It sounds a bit cheesy, she says, but Mark always makes you feel like you re the number-one client, even though he s got hundreds. It makes you feel good. So how does he do it? Opashinov s message, echoing those of his fellow professionals across the country, is simple and clear: Service, service, service. N... Bill Rogers is a Toronto-based freelance legal writer. KIRK MCGREGOR 26 NATIONAL