The squeeze on general counsel and legal departments has reached new heights: report
TD’s Kashif Zaman says it will be a while before AI makes a workload impact for legal departments By Julius Melnitzer | July 26, 2023 The squeeze on general counsel and legal departments has reached new heights, according to The General Counsel Report 2023, a joint white paper from global consultancies FTI Consulting, Inc. and Relativity. “For […]
Working for one client attracted TC Energy’s Lesley Lee in-house
Her 13-member litigation and employment department is responsible for both Canada and the US By Julius Melnitzer | July 25, 2023 When Lesley Lee, director of litigation and employment law at TC Energy, decided to move in-house from her private firm practice, focus is what attracted her. “I enjoyed private practice, but liked the idea of […]
Cybersecurity attacks in Canada hold steady, but things are getting worse
Sunny Handa says cybersecurity is an enterprise risk, not just an IT risk By Julius Melnitzer | July 24, 2023 At first blush, readers of Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP’s Canadian Cybersecurity Trends Study 2023 might take heart in discovering that 2022 did not see steady growth in the number of cyberattacks. “The number of attacks […]
Reporting to the Lawyer From Hell
Photo by Maureen T. McKay By Murray Gottheil | July 19, 2023 So imagine that you are a newbie lawyer working for a firm. When your were looking for your first job, nobody told you that the most important consideration was to work for a competent person of good character, so you chose your job […]
In-house views of remote work diverge significantly
By Julius Melnitzer | July 18, 2023 The “working from home” controversy, it appears, is no less intense among legal departments than it is elsewhere. The degree of the divide is evident from the breadth of the opinion spectrum: at one extreme are traditionalists on this issue like Fernando Garcia, who has over 15 years […]
Laura Salvatori, Anson Funds’ GC, has found satisfaction in straddling the cross-border world
Salvatori says GC roles attract people who like being jacks of all trades and rolling their sleeves up By Julius Melnitzer | July 8, 2023 Based in Toronto but with her “heart in New York,” Laura Salvatori, Anson Funds’ general counsel, has found satisfaction by straddling both worlds. Anson is a privately held alternative asset management […]
Tim Hortons’ Jon Domanko heads up a relatively small but very expert in-house team for a big job
Jon Domanko believes law firms provide essential training grounds for lawyers who want in-house careers By Julius Melnitzer | July 5, 2023 When Jon Domanko decided he liked the in-house counsel’s job better than his boss’, he set out on an unwavering course that took him to his current position as Tim Hortons’ top lawyer in […]
Shifting in-house from cost centres to strategic centres should be consultants’ consuming objective
Mark Le Blanc says leaders must expand their teams’ skill sets and approach management anew By Julius Melnitzer | June 28, 2023 Shifting legal departments from cost centres to strategic centres should be consultants’ consuming objective in advising in-house leaders, says Marc Le Blanc, a former general counsel turned consultant at Toronto-based Simplex Legal LLP, affiliated […]
Sheila Ritson-Bennett says a creative mindset at Corus Entertainment bodes well for her ESG program
Sheila Ritson-Bennett says Corus culture has a level of courage about new ideas By Julius Melnitzer | June 26, 2023 The creative and entrepreneurial mindset at Corus Entertainment Inc., says Sheila Ritson-Bennett, the company’s first head of environment and sustainability, governance, bodes well for the goals she is striving to achieve. “People are very open and […]
Mastercard’s Marvin Mikhail: good in-house counsel are ‘sponges’ who soak up business from inside
When in-house teams are doing their job properly, legal services are not a commodity, says Marvin Mikhail By Julius Melnitzer | June 21, 2023 Marvin Mikhail, vice president and senior managing counsel for Mastercard in Canada, likens his role to that of a sponge. “Successful in-house lawyers are most valuable when they advise their companies from […]