BCBusiness.Ca 64 BCBusiness June 2014
The room where I meet Pawar and
Patryluk in the new
MEP office at 669
Howe St., about a month later, bears
the signs of the lightning-speed move.
A long To-Do list scrawled on the white-
board records items such as photo-
copier, scanner, business cards and
letterhead. "That's about half of what it
was a week ago," says Patryluk.
Pawar's point about the oak table is
part of a larger discussion touched off
by Heenan Blaikie's demise. Founded
in 1973, it became one of Canada's first
national law firms with more than 500
lawyers, approximately half of whom
were partners. It was the largest failure
of a law firm in Canadian history. Much
coverage focused on the firm's chal-
lenges in the current economy: demand
by clients for lower fees, fewer merger-
and-acquisition deals, tougher com-
petition among firms and leadership
disputes. These are not unique, with
many national firms having recently
introduced strategies to deliver better
value and stay competitive.
Pawar and Patryluk are both excited
by the possibilities they see in running
a small firm without the large overhead
(and suave furnishings) of a national
firm. "A lot of business is done virtually
now, or we travel to clients," says Pawar.
"And I think everyone appreciates that.
They would rather see the work getting
done at a more streamlined rate, rather
than paying for bells and whistles that
they will never see."
Ryan Patryluk started as an arti-
cling student at the Vancouver office of
Heenan Blaikie in 2001, and followed
up with three years as an associate. He
left for jobs in New York and London,
U.K., and then returned to Heenan
Blaikie in 2010. While Patryluk was
"i thought it would be fun to practise in a firm that is smaller, more
local and more tightly focused. i wasn't planning that it would hap-
pen this way but it feels like a great landing"
– Geoff Plant, B.C.'s former attorney general and new counsel at GLGM Law
right-sized Craig
Munroe (left) and Geoff
Plant believe 20 lawyers
is plenty for GLGM Law.
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