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 […]
Stepping out of her comfort zone is the key to success for Isabelle Durand, CLO at iA Financial
Isabelle Durand had much to learn when she moved to the highly regulated financial services sector By Julius Melnitzer | June 16, 2023 When Industrial Alliance Insurance and Financial Services Inc. asked Isabelle Durand to step out of her comfort zone and become the company’s vice president and chief legal officer, she jumped at the opportunity: […]
WorkSafeNB’s GC David Luther cleared a 9-month, 400-case backlog in six weeks
By Julius Melnitzer | June 14, 2023 Within six weeks of implementing general counsel David Luther’s recommendations in June 2022, the Decision Review Office of WorkSafeNB, the New Brunswick crown corporation charged with administering the province’s workers’ compensation regime, had eliminated its 400-case, 9-month wait backlog, implemented core service standards and automation, and lowered operational costs. […]
In-house lawyers will not solve their problems by improving legal service delivery: consultant
Peter Connor says there’s a difference between being a business partner and partnering in business By Julius Melnitzer | June 12, 2023 In-house lawyers will not solve their problems by improving legal service delivery. They must change their work and how they do it, says Peter Connor, the founder and CEO of Alternatively Legal. With 40 […]
David Forsayeth always wanted back into a business role, and he got it in spades in-house at Flipp
Building internal processes for working with the legal group is among David Forsayeth’s proudest accomplishments By Julius Melnitzer | June 6, 2023 After graduating with a bachelor of commerce degree, David Forsayeth, general counsel at Flipp Corp., always imagined himself in a business role. Law school intervened, as did four years as a private mergers and […]