Demand for legal services reflects global economic activity

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With healthy demand for legal work related to areas from infrastructure to financial services, Canada's top law firms anticipate increasing business in the year ahead, mirroring the expected improvements in the global economy.

Despite challenges, such as regulatory uncertainty in a few areas, "we are seeing strong activity with our clients across all our industries and practice areas," says Brock Gibson, chair of Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, which has more than 600 lawyers across Canada, as well as several representative and direct offices abroad.

"We are enthusiastic and confident," he says, noting that he expects the U.S. economy to bounce back ahead of Europe, which could mean an increase in demand for a wide range of goods and services as well as investments from south of the border.

Mr. Gibson says there are some notable ebbs and flows in the Canadian economy and thus demand for legal services, with stronger areas "taking up the slack" as others go through slower cycles. For example, adjusting market dynamics for oil and gas mean that junior capital markets are slower, but there are long-term energy infrastructure projects in the works, such as pipelines and liquefied natural gas projects, that "are legally intensive in both commercial and regulatory streams."

Other robust areas for Blakes include real estate investment trusts (REITs), alternative energy, IT, shareholder activism, class actions and "everything infrastructure," Mr. Gibson comments. He notes that Blakes has hired 37 second-year students for its Toronto office starting in the summer of 2014, a reflection of the firm's optimism about healthy demand from its client base.

At Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP, which has more than 400 lawyers practising nationally and internationally from offices across Canada and in New York, 2014 is expected to bring a general improvement in transaction volumes, says Frank Turner, national co-chair of the firm's corporate group. He expects stronger numbers in corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions, especially with signs of increased Canadian investment activity by state-owned enterprises, which declined significantly in 2013.

Infrastructure "has been a driver of a fair amount of legal work over the last 24 months" and will continue to be strong, he says. Other active practice areas for Osler include tax disputes, class action defence and REITs. Canada's financial services sector has weathered the financial crisis well, he notes, and has grown outside of Canada through acquisitions.

Mr. Turner says the outlook for Canada-U.S. cross-border activity is robust. Osler's office in New York has 25 legal professionals focused on cross-border transactions, tax, employment and pension benefit issues.