New intellectual property law boutique aims to set itself apart from the crowd

Along with the four came associates, though all are simply called “lawyers” at Seastone IP. In all, there are now nine lawyers at the upstart firm.

Adds Foster: “It’s something we had been thinking of for a while, but it just became easier with the pandemic going on to say, ‘let’s just do it,’ and work in a more intimate setting with people I’ve always enjoyed being with.”

Discussions about whether to take the leap started last spring, then slowed a bit as the work for an upcoming trial took precedence. But in June and July, leases and contracts were being signed, and Seastone IP was up and running by August. The firm now has lawyers in Vancouver, where Foster and Brechtel practice; Calgary, where Smith is based; and Toronto, where D’Souza Culora is headquartered. 

Just months into its start, Seastone IP has already grabbed some attention in the IP legal world. This year, it made it onto Canadian Lawyer’s list of top IP boutiques for 2022-23.

As for the reasons why they felt the need to leave a big firm to start their own smaller practice, D’Souza Culora says “it was a combination of things.” Perhaps the most important was the desire to "do things a little differently, things that may be harder to do in a larger firm.” Plus, she adds, there was the adventure of starting a practice with a group of like-minded individuals who have known each other for years. She notes that she had worked with Foster in England years ago and reconnected when both ended up in Canada and working at Gowling.

For Smith, becoming part of Seastone IP was a chance to practice law “a bit differently” from how he had been at a longstanding prominent firm. “You can be the cheapest, most efficient, and focus on profitability, or you can be interested in getting better at what you do and working with the most talented lawyers I know and having the infrastructure that supports that.”

Adds Smith: “It’s not that money is unimportant, but I consider myself so lucky to be able to work with theses lawyers. We just got through a six-week trial, and I’ll put our legal team up against anyone in the country.”

Brechtel notes that "with such a smart adventurous group, we have been able to embrace new innovations in legal tech."  As well, some of the software providers the firm works with "have been able to develop their software together with us and that kind of nimbleness can be a big advantage of a boutique firm."

When coming up with a name for the firm, the founding partners didn’t want to rely on the tried-and-true practice in the legal world of using their last names or acronyms or initials. “Once you depart from that, you’re into this area where a lot of trademarks and names in the IP world are gone,” says D’Souza Culora. “We then worked with a branding firm, and we just ended up liking Seastone – ‘sea’ reflects fluidity and ‘stone’ reflects strength is one way to look at it. The name just resonated with us.”

D’Souza Culora says that being part of a smaller, intimate environment has advantages when working out legal strategies and how to proceed. “It’s very easy to work with people that you know well, where everyone feels they can voice their opinions.You can embrace that.” She adds: “In terms of the type of service we can offer clients, we can give them a well-rounded view coming from a group of people from a place where there isn’t a hierarchical structure.”

She also notes that “it is no secret” that the legal profession is struggling to retain people “because of the challenge of balancing the workload with a life outside of work." At Seastone IP, she says, the goal is to create a flexible environment and focus on diversity and equality.

Of course, Smith points out, there is a whole structure to “take care of things” at larger firms, so lawyers don’t have to worry about policies, accounting, human resources, and budgeting. “But it’s not a bad thing to embrace that part of a law practice and figure out how that all works, knowing that it is fitting into the bigger picture of what you want to do.”

Foster agrees, saying he never thought much about the administrative side of pensions, T4 slips and RRSP deadlines until this year. As the firm grows, Foster says the founding partners probably will not have to be as involved in these administrative matters as much as they are now. And Brechtel points out that "when you do deal with these sorts of details you realize you can drive the culture of the firm - it gives you a chance to build a kinder, more inclusive, more supportive workplace."

Being smaller in size also means you can put plans into action quickly. Says Foster: “We decided we wanted to go from a part-time accountant to one that works full time. “I interviewed someone on a Friday morning, Tania was able to interview her on Friday afternoon, we offered her a job on Saturday, and she started a week later. That’s the kind of flexibility you can have with direct ownership.”

Smith notes that as intellectual property law gets more complex and sophisticated, and more is on the line when it comes to the outcome of an IP case, “more clients are realizing they don’t necessarily have to go to a large, multi-practice national firm for sophisticated advice.”

Often, he adds, a boutique law firm can give you more of what is needed on an IP case, especially if the stakes are high, and the focus on intellectual property law means that everyone at the firm has expertise in this area of the law.

Says Brechtel: "We've had the amazing opportunity to pull together a group of lawyers that all have a deep appreciation of the importance of IP and how it is core to how the world works these days. We're feeling really excited about what we're able to do for our clients."

D’Souza Culora points out that the firm's founders all have expertise in specific areas of IP law. Foster focuses on IP litigation, trademarks, and the commercial-contractual side of IP law. Smith’s practice revolves around patent law, helped by his engineering and science background. D’Souza Culora’s area of expertise revolves around contentious IP, including anti-counterfeiting and anti-piracy as well as brand strategy. Brechtel works across IP litigation, trademark prosecution and commercial IP work.

Foster says that a non-hierarchical structure, with partners and lawyers rowing in the same direction, also helps. “In a recent six-week trial that Patrick was lead on, there were four lawyers, and all were able to communicate with clients and get things done quickly when needed,” he says.

“That’s the kind of structure we’ve all wanted to work in, whereas at some firms, it has to go through three levels before something is eventually sent out. That’s often unnecessary and slows down the process.”

Working for yourself also makes it easier to cheerfully take on those extra tasks after office hours or on holiday. “I was up at Whistler earlier this year, and an expert witness called in a panic about something, says Foster. "I was quite happy to take the time to deal with the concerns while on holiday because I know it was important for the client and for us.”

As Seastone IP gets closer to its first year in practice, the three hope for more growth in the future, especially on the administrative side, but want to keep the intimacy of a boutique firm. Says Foster: “If there’s one goal I have for the next six months, it is to make sure that we can do more to reduce the administrative burden of our lawyers so that we can focus more on our legal practice.”

“We all love being lawyers, we all enjoy practicing law. We want to do more of that and leave the other things - administration, organization, planning - to experts in that field.”

The firm now has a basic website, with biographies of the lawyers, but a full rollout of a new and improved site should be coming out in a few weeks. With that, the firm’s founders feel confident that Seastone IP’s successful “soft opening” is just one hint of a successful future.