By Jordan Furlong

Concern runs deep among law societies and bar associations about the greying of the Bar outside major urban centers, and for good reason. Small-town Canada’s population is declining slowly, but the lawyer population is dropping much faster. Law society studies in B.C. and Ontario have shown the typical small-town lawyer is older than average and has few if any junior partners to whom the practice can be passed.

Legitimate access-to-justice issues are raised if communities are bereft of lawyers, or if legal help is several hours’ drive away. There are even worries that governments will step in to remove our regulatory monopoly over legal services if lawyers collectively refuse to serve smaller towns. Projects like the B.C.-CBA’s (Canadian Bar Association) Rural Education and Access to Lawyers (REAL) initiative are a good step towards addressing this problem.

But I sometimes think that, counter-intuitively, we might be on the verge of a renaissance in small-town lawyering. Combine a new generation with different values, the effects of a slow and difficult economic recovery, and a probable sea change in how large firms recruit and hire new associates, and we could be looking at an unexpected turnaround in lawyer migration patterns.

One way to look at it is by reviewing the usual reasons why lawyers (especially new graduates) avoid smaller communities.

There’s not enough work out there. To the contrary: demand for legal services is steady, and with the coming retirement of thousands of older practitioners, supply is going to dry up. Opportunities will abound for lawyers willing to commit to these communities.

1. I can’t afford the lower rates. This is a common refrain among new law grads burdened with heavy debts. But how much do these lawyers pay to live and work in the big cities where the large firms are based? Do the cost-of-living math and the big-city salary might look less attractive.
2. I’d feel isolated in a small town. Long-distance communication has never been easier and cheaper, and between LinkedIn, Facebook and other online services, a lawyer is only as alone as he or she wants to be. Professional proficiency? Online continuing legal education (CLE) delivers legal learning anywhere.
3. I’d miss out on the challenging legal work. That’s arguable. But would you also miss the incivility and competition? Every report of law in smaller towns emphasizes the collegiality, respect and community spirit that lawyers encounter. And let’s not even talk about the commute.
4. I want exposure to a variety of practice. Another common objection from articling students who want to road-test multiple rotations. But small-town lawyers often do wills in the morning, close a house sale over lunch and defend a driving under the influence case in the afternoon.
5. I want the big-firm experience. It’s hard to get around this if that’s what the lawyer wants. But “experience” in larger firms often has to wait several years before meaningful client contact or courtroom appearances become available. In smaller communities, you hit the ground running from your first day on the job.

Obviously, many lawyers want to and should gravitate to large firms in big cities. There’s no point heading out of town if you want to do securitization or mergers and acquisitions, or if you have your eye on overseas work. And many people simply prefer to live in the metropolitan world, for reasons ranging from diversity and nightlife to opportunities to take an evening and see the ballet or the local pro sports franchise.

There’s also the question whether law schools do a good enough job publicizing opportunities outside the city limits. Many law school career offices lack the resources to do more than refer students to the big firms, whose presence on campus has never been more overwhelming.

But it’s an open question whether big firms will continue to hire and expand as they have in the past. The gradual but inexorable transition to value billing is going to force firms to reconsider the traditional role of associate leverage in partner profitability. Large firms simply might require fewer lawyers in their formative years, and those lawyers have to go somewhere to pay the bills.

The generational factor has to be considered too. When millennials talk about prioritizing family and lifestyle over earning and advancement opportunities, they mean it. The attractions of living in smaller communities or in smaller cities far from central Canada are real, and cross-country mobility has never been easier or cheaper.

Will small-town law become the default position for lawyers, with big-city firms the exception? Hardly. Human and financial capital continues to accumulate in our cities, which will increasingly be the country’s growth engines. But equally, it might be too soon to write the obituary of the small-town lawyer. The last chapters of this story have yet to be written.

© 2010 The Lawyers Weekly
December 03, 2010
Byline: Jordan Furlong (p 23)

[posted November 30, 2010]