Issue - April, 2006


Toronto---Law firm Aird & Berlis (Toronto) has launched a new pay-as-you-go consultation service for municipal purchasers.
Earlier this year, the company began providing fixed-fee services endorsed by the Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario.
The offerings include reviews of request for proposals (RFPs) and tenders, with feedback provided in a short, user-friendly report.
"It’s very unusual for lawyers to offer services on a fixed-fee basis and the reason we can do this is simply because if you work in an area and come to know it very well, there are certain parts of what you do that you can actually commoditize," said Aird & Berlis partner Denis Chamberland.
"So I don’t have a problem telling people if I’m going to do an RFP review for under 25 pages, it’s going to cost them a few hundred dollars as a fixed fee."
The firm also manages riskier RFPs, and will de-risk challenging documents. Short reports are provided on the merits of a bidder’s complaint, along with reviews of municipal organizations' purchasing by-laws.
"Very often people feel uneasy about their procurement process but they don’t know enough about procurement to know what questions to ask," Chamberland says.
"Calling a lawyer to have a casual chat without identifying your problem is not something that people will do. So we wanted to make procurement accessible to people by saying here's what you’re going to get and here's what it’s going to cost you."