I asked him what qualities distinguish his preferred suppliers.
. . . professional, prompt, people who are concerned and interested in what your needs and you are about, people who communicate well
I asked him why his clients hire him/his firm instead of his competitors.
. . . prompt quality service, I try to spend time with them on their turf to better understand their needs – to connect them, to be a ring-leader of sorts, to bring them together with people and resources they need. Keeping my referral network top-drawer. The drive for the deal.
What defines life-work balance for you?
. . . getting my kids involved in sports (and coaching them in soccer), skiing, I play the piano. Being around people who make a difference.
What do you lose sleep over, what do you worry about?
. . . the state of the economy in Europe and the U.S.. The fate of the Canucks doesn’t keep me up, anymore!
I asked Greg how he sees law practice and law business over the next 90 days?
. . . I see a lot of growth in ‘in-house’ counsel and organizations using paid staff rather than law firms to handle many things, to reduce costs, emerging as a trend – otherwise, business is good. I see lots of clients being less bold, cleaning up balance sheets, being cautious right now. I see continued focus in medium and larger size firms internationalizing themselves with mergers and alliances so they can serve clients globally. We all can, of course, through referrals and people we have specialty-specific relationships with. Big mergers aren’t the only way to meet client’s needs, but a lot of firms have gone that way and several are on the cusp of doing that.
. . . and over the next 5 years?
The commoditization of law services – insurance work, bank work/mortgages, real estate (possibly a move to the escrow process so prevalent in the U.S.). I see law firms, to retain good people and to keep costs competitive, accommodating the work-life balance needs of both junior and senior lawyers, women in particular, developing new formulas for equity and non-equity partners to make way for new talent to rise with more career-shift options available for senior lawyers, many of whom will shift to contract work and those in-house roles. I see firms, like ours, that will do best, will focus a lot on tax, mergers & acquisitions, environmental law, senior litigation and my primary area – private client work.
Who or what influenced you most – that has made a difference in your life?
. . . my uncle Howard, my dad (we went to the first Canucks game together in 1970)
What are you reading?
. . . political books, The Economist, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair
His ride?
. . . my 2014 Jeep Cherokee is on order . . .