THE AMPERSAND 
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
First off, a big thank you to everyone who supported the Pekarsky Stein Pro Bonos hockey club earlier this month at the third annual Gordie Howe and Friends Face Off For Alzheimer’s Hockey Tournament. Our team, a colourful cast of characters comprised of lawyers, brokers, accountants and other introverts, raised over $62,000 this year. By virtue of this stellar effort we were able to draft Russ Courtnall as our pro for the weekend. As for our on-ice performance…did I mention we raised over $62,000? Having only days prior to the tournament lost my grandmother at the age of 91 (see article below) who, near the end was struggling with dementia, this year’s event took on a more personal meaning. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped us out. In three years, the Pro Bonos have raised over $200,000 for this most excellent cause and there is no way we could have done it without your help.
Regarding our ongoing brand enhancement efforts, we continue to work with our marketing firm, Foundry Communications, and eagerly await the results of their hard work. Reading their detailed report about market perceptions of us was like reading an old report card, except thankfully with better grades. Whether we (meaning they) decide to change our colours, chop down our tree, or re-work our tag line remains to be seen. Watch this space for more details on that font, I mean front.Some good reading this month. I’ve placed Rethinking the Pyramid at the top of the list because I think it’s quite thought provoking, for those of you whose thoughts are provoked by the day-to-day of business trends in general and law firms, as businesses, in particular. The author poses numerous questions about the dramatically changing economic landscape and the resulting impact on the traditional law firm model. The over-arching question posed is: “If I was building my business today what shape would it look like and then how do I get my existing firm closer to that model?” The author then explores the role, present and future, for Partners, Non-Equity Partners, Associates, Trainees, Technology etc. Spoiler Alert: The conclusion starts with “none of these questions are easy” and the author doesn’t actually answer any of them. That’s a bit too click-your-heels-and-wake-up-in-Kansas-it-was-all-a-dream for my liking and next month, absent a more compelling topic, I will try more ‘thought leadership’ and endeavour to answer those questions. I’m pretty sure the DLA Piper billing practice isn’t one of them.
See you in June. The snow might almost be gone by then.
Pekarsky Stein was a proud sponsor of the Turning Points 2013 Fundraising Dinner on April 24th.
