Giselle Basanta on becoming one of only a few Black females leading a legal department in Canada
By Julius Melnitzer | May 18, 2023 There are very few Black females leading legal departments in Canada. Giselle Basanta, a latecomer to the law after the better part of two decades as a public servant, is one of them. She is only aware of four others. When George Brown College went looking for a […]
Christine Silversides’ small team at York University is a lesson in maximizing resources
Christine Silversides says teamwork, hard work, dedication, creativity, and training are key to managing the demanding workload By Julius Melnitzer | May 13, 2023 In 2006, Christine Silversides joined York University’s Office of the Counsel as director of legal services, becoming the fourth lawyer on the team. Thirteen years later, Silversides became general counsel. As it […]
Women’s General Counsel University creates sense of community for senior in-house female lawyers
Sandra Montanino is the program’s new executive director By Julius Melnitzer | May 10, 2023 A record 16 candidates will comprise the Women General Counsel Canada’s General Counsel University fourth cohort class, with Sandra Montanino as the program’s new executive director. Nine candidates from the third cohort graduated on April 21, while the first and second […]
Engineers Canada’s Seung Byong Light Go didn’t want to be a lawyer until he landed in-house
Go says the challenges at a professional organization are different than at entrepreneurial companies. By Julius Melnitzer | May 9, 2023 Seung Byong Light Go didn’t choose a legal career because he wanted to be a lawyer – but now delights in being one. “I chose law because it offered opportunities to do other things,” he […]
Settlement counsel: a little-known idea that appeals to many in-house counsel
Ralph Cuervo-Lorens says hiring yet another lawyer for dispute resolution may be counterintuitive, but clients like it By Julius Melnitzer | May 2, 2023 Just about any legal department would concur that legal costs are high enough, thank you. The prospect of adding another lawyer to the dispute resolution team is, at best counterintuitive, at worst, […]
BMO legal department’s pro bono efforts cross borders
Theresa Ducket says it’s not difficult to get buy-in for pro bono from her team By Julius Melnitzer | April 21, 2023 Law firms seem to do a much better job touting their pro bono work – not to mention themselves – than do in-house legal departments. Surprising it may be, then, to discover that more […]
FCA rejects privilege for end product where claimant fails to show how document reveals legal advice
The danger is that CRA can use end products to reverse engineer legal advice By Julius Melnitzer | April 19, 2023 A recent Federal Court of Appeal decision has done little to assuage the uncertainty as to whether and when legal advice “end product” is subject to solicitor-client privilege. In BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. v. Canada (National […]
Kashif Zaman, VP, legal at Toronto-Dominion Bank, on his new formula for success in-house
Zaman says integrating his M&A group with other departments is his proudest achievement so far By Julius Melnitzer | April 13, 2023 Serendipity and career path often intertwine – which is how Kashif Zaman finds himself helping steer the ship as vice-president, legal at the Toronto-Dominion Bank. Called in Ontario in 2002, Zaman articled at Torys […]
Rusty Juma lives his dream as Volkswagen’s new general counsel
Success in automotive industry isn’t that different from success in professional services, he says By Julius Melnitzer | April 12, 2023 Rusty Juma has spent his entire in-house career with professional services firms; he’s also been a car aficionado all his life. So, his new job as general counsel and corporate secretary to Volkswagen Group Canada Inc. and […]
Dow’s Lorne O’Reilly relishes being a one-person show
He’s the only in-house lawyer involved in the construction of the world’s largest ethylene cracker By Julius Melnitzer | April 5, 2023 When you think of Dow Chemical, you think big, which makes it somewhat surprising that Lorne O’Reilly is the only lawyer in Dow Chemical Canada’s legal department. But he relishes the opportunities his job […]