Farah Ismail and Fasken form unique partnership to create in-house department for SE Healthcare
Farah Ismail By Julius Melnitzer | May 27, 2023 Good general counsel know that “at the beginning” is frequently the best time to call in the troops from their trusted law firms. But “before the beginning” taxes the imagination – unless you happen to be Farah Ismail, senior vice-president and chief legal, privacy and compliance officer […]
High focus, a pragmatic bias and technology are keys to navigating cost-cutting pressures in-house
Mark Dodd says in-house lawyers in cost-cutting environments should attend only essential meetings. By Julius Melnitzer | May 23, 2023 In uncertain economic times, the great conundrum for in-house counsel is that cost-cutting and workload are inevitably inversely proportional. Faced with this dilemma, Mark Dodd, head of market insights at Lawyers on Demand, an international alternative […]
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, […]
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 […]
LSO tribunal allows lawyer accused of theft to practise in-house pending merits determination
Gavin MacKenzie says interim orders in disciplinary proceedings are meant to protect the public By Julius Melnitzer | September 28, 2022 A Law Society of Ontario tribunal has allowed a lawyer accused of having clients send firm funds to his personal account to continue practising in-house for a family corporation until his case is decided […]
The new way for in-house counsel to ID legal disputes early
September 28, 2020 | By Julius Melnitzer The Deep Tech Resolution Lab (DTRL) at Oxford’s Faculty of Law is building an artificial intelligence (AI) system to search corporate data for signs of trouble before they emerge. According to the Law Society Gazette, DTRL is asking in-house lawyers to help them with the project. “The idea […]
In-house counsel should lead charge against legal aid cuts
The deafening silence from in-house counsel and their professional associations about the Ford government’s $130 million in cuts to Legal Aid Ontario is nothing less than shameful. While it’s true that the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) has launched a social media campaign (#LegalAidMatters) to rally the profession to the cause, and all 13 CBA branch […]
BARE BONES BRIEFS: ECJ: Accountants’ communications not privileged | Alexi AI cuts routine litigation task time by 80% | Legal Risk Assessments: tackling risk proactively | OCA: No appeals of court-ordered arbitrator appointments | Singapore to establish international appeals body for commercial cases
By Julius Melnitzer | October 30, 2024 ECJ RULES THAT PRIVILEGE DOES NOT EXTEND TO TAX ADVISORS WHO ARE NOT LAWYERS The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that privilege in tax matters extends only to lawyers and not to other professionals, even if they perform similar advisory tasks. The court concluded […]