Alan Denroche, Denroche & Associates. Doing “Something Useful” for 30 years
y Bill Braden
When Alan Denroche told his father that he’d been accepted into the University of Victoria’s law school, his dad looked him straight in the eye. “Son, why don’t you do something useful with your life? Then he gave me a pat on the back and sent me off,” recalls Denroche. His dad, at the time, was a provincial court judge in Kelowna. That was more than three decades ago. He’s now the principal of Denroche and Associates, Barristers and Solicitors, and heads a small team of lawyers and support staff that primarily serve the corporate and real estate needs of clients in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Like many young legal grads, Denroche was lured to Yellowknife with a short-term plan to start his career then head back home to B.C. And like a few, he stayed. “I joined what was originally Boyd and Co. My original three-year plan is now approaching 30 years,” says Denroche, recalling his arrival on the midnight flight on May 13, 1987.
Along with the team he has recruited to work with him, Denroche says an early, key decision to focus on certain areas of law has served the firm well. “I made a decision to restrict the business to a couple areas of practice and become highly skilled in those areas. You know them inside and out. If you try to do too many areas with too few people, that’s a recipe for headaches,” he says. “To be honest, I’d rather turn clients away than not serve them properly.” “It’s not up to me whether to say I’m good, bad or indifferent… the marketplace determines whether they’re happy and they’ll let other people know. If they’re unhappy, they’ll really let other people know.”
Decidedly low-key on his business profile, or on making big waves in Yellowknife’s legal fraternity, Denroche and the other lawyers in the firm, Geoffrey Wiest and Martha Temple Churchill, have remained involved in the community. Denroche, married with two grown children, is himself a dedicated coach in the Atom hockey division. In thirty years, Denroche has seen the city’s legal field evolve from mostly smaller, stand-alone firms like his, to a market with local offices for larger firms with national or regional coverage. He reckons there may be fewer lawyers in private practice today in Yellowknife than there were 15 years ago. He’s experienced enough of Yellowknife’s economic ups and downs to know how to position his business. “Big is not necessarily better, in any business,” he says. “That’s why I just want to be a small firm, focus on a limited number of areas with staffing that’s comfortable, and try and do a good job at a reasonable price.” YKCI
