“But legal recruiter and industry watcher Adam Lepofsky, founder of Toronto-based Rainmaker Group, isn’t so sure that firms such as Conduit will end up transforming Canada’s legal industry. New concepts have come and gone, he said, and boutique firms or lower-cost firms are nothing new. While Conduit and others like it will find a place, he argues, big companies are always going to seek out established, brand-name firms.

If you are a creative, intelligent thinker and you come up with a concept that you can sell, then you can be successful,” Mr. Lepofsky said. “Does that equate to a national crisis, or law firms forever changing the way they do business? No.”

Toronto legal startup challenging tradition with no-frill fees