Legal Sector

Estimated Dollar Value of Legal Business Conducted in Clinton County with Canadian-owned Businesses, International Border Businesses, and Public Border-related Agencies for the Calendar Years 1994, 1996 and 1998

Client Type Value of Services Provided
  1994 1996 1998
Canadian-owned Businesses in Clinton County $ 107,500 $151,800 $102,500
Canadian-owned Businesses not in Clinton County $ 30,100 $ 27,000 $106,000
International Border Businesses $ 104,250 $ 50,000 $40,000
Public Border-related Agencies $ 500 $ 50,000 $0
TOTAL $ 242,350 $278,800 $248,500

Overall, the estimated dollar value of legal business with Canadian and border-related business has remained relatively stable, decreasing 11% from 1996 to 1998 and increasing 2.5% from 1994 to 1998. Business conducted with Canadian-owned businesses not located in Clinton County almost tripled from 1996 to 1998. The other categories had decreases in business, with Canadian-owned business in Clinton County decreasing 32% and International border business decreasing 20% from 1996 to 1998.

Estimated Corporate Incorporations in Clinton County as Reported by Law Firm Respondents for Calendar Years 1994, 1996 and 1998

  1994 1996 1998
# of All Corporate Incorporations Reported 88 77 41
# of New Canadian-Owned Business Incorporations Reported 39 20 30
# of Canadian-Owned Business Owner Transfers Reported 2 1 4

In 1998, the 11 law firms reported a total of 41 incorporations, representing 43% of all incorporations within Clinton County registered with the NYS Department of State Division of Corporations in that year. The 30 new Canadian-owned businesses incorporated in 1998 represent 73% of the 41 incorporations reported by the 11 law firms and 31% of total incorporations registered in 1998.

 There were 4 owner transfers reported in 1998 by the surveyed law firms. These four transfers account for 22% of all the Canadian-owned business owner transfers registered with the NYS Department of State Division of corporations for 1998.    

 Methodological Note:

 Of the 62 legal firms surveyed in 1998, only 11 (18%) responded, and 6 firms are either out of business or no longer practicing in Clinton County. Overall, the responses dropped from 18 of 53 (34%) in 1996 to 11 (18%) in 1998, however the firms that did respond were those that had accounted for  business conducted in 1996 with Canadian and border-related firms. Six of the firms that responded in 1998 had participated in the 1996 study. These six firms represented 99% of all the business reported in 1996 and 100% of data reported for 1998, therefore we can make direct one to one comparisons between 1996 and 1998.

Recommendation for Replication:

The Chamber should obtain prior agreement to participate in the next replication study from those specific legal firms which responded to this study.  The Chamber should revise and update the list of legal firms operating within Clinton County.  With each replication of this study, the intent should be to track the responses of firms which have responded previously, thus compiling comparable trend data, while continually expanding the base of total respondents.