Canadian Lawyer InHouse

3 CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse Director/Group Publisher: Karen Lorimer karen.lorimer@thomsonreuters.com Managing Editor: Jennifer Brown jen.brown@thomsonreuters.com Copy Editor: Patricia Cancilla Art Director: Steve Maver Account Co-ordinator: Catherine Giles Sales and Business Development Business Development Consultant: Ivan Ivanovitch ivan.ivanovitch@tr.com 416-887-4300 Business Development Consultant: Kimberlee Pascoe kimberlee.pascoe@tr.com 416-996-1739 Account Executive: Steffanie Munroe steffanie.munroe@tr.com 416-315-5879 Canadian Lawyer InHouse is published 6 times a year by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd., One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto ON. M1T 3V4 (416) 298-5141. Fax : 416-649-7870 Web: www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/groups/3380194 Twitter: @CLInHouse Editorial advisory board: Sanjeev Dhawan, Hydro One Networks Inc.; Jonathan Lau, Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario; Fernando Garcia, Nissan Canada; Joe Bradford, Bradford Professional Corp; Dorothy Quann, Xerox Canada. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reprinted without written permission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information presented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Canadian Lawyer InHouse disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reliance upon information in this publication. Publications Mail Agreement #40766500 ISSN 1921-9563 Copyright © 2018 H.S.T. Registration #R121349799 To subscribe or change addresses Call (416) 649-9585 Fax (416) 649-7870 or e-mail Keith Fulford at keith.fulford@thomsonreuters.com RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESS TO: CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto ON. M1T 3V4 By Jennifer Brown Editor's Box SEND YOUR news AND story ideas TO jen.brown@thomsonreuters.com Did you innovate in your legal department last year? A new year sparks many to evaluate their current situation and make goals for the future. Taking time to reflect on what one accomplished in the previous year can be satisfying, and for those who pursue continuous improvement it can be difficult sometimes to determine whether they really moved the needle on progress or fell short of their own, often high, expectations. This month, we open the nominations for our fifth annual Innovatio Awards. Yes, that's right, it's been five years since we launched our in-house recognition program. I can honestly say that after last September's gala event I felt we really finally moved the needle on the event's recognition in the marketplace. We extended the program to honour public sector in-house departments and had a great response, hearing from departments I have never seen at conferences or met at association meetings. I am always surprised when I get calls from reluctant, humble in-house leaders who will call, close to the deadline, and ask me if their project or leader would qualify for an Innnovatio nomination. In so many cases, what they have done to streamline a process or improve delivery of services to the business units has been impressive, even monumental if you consider the steps they had to take to get buy-in and change thinking. There are also the young leaders working in your departments that we would like to see more nominations for this year. Think of the young (five years or less in-house) lawyers among you who have brought their own innovative ideas to you and taken the project to fruition. Recently, a young general counsel sent me an email asking if we might be interested in her story. I was shocked at what she'd accomplished in the short time since she left law school and gone in-house to a dynamic non-profit. Recognizing the future of the profession is important and can serve to show others what's possible in a career in-house. So, in the next two months, please take the time to reflect on the work you and your team did, perhaps in conjunction with external counsel, to innovate and change your department's approach to getting work done. We have nine categories (and I encourage you to consider more than one) that range from Tomorrow's Leaders, Dealmakers, Law Department Diversity, Best Practices in Compliance Systems, Law Department Management, Risk Management, Working with External Counsel, Litigation Management and Law Department Leadership. We evaluate entries from small and large departments separately as well as public sector de - partments (also from small and large). For those who aren't familiar with our process, our judges are all from in-house departments from across the country. All winner selections are made by the judges. And don't be shy — if you have a question about our process or whether your project or ini- tiative would make for a good nomination, please don't hesitate to give me a call or send me an email. I love talking about the work being done in-house. I also encourage everyone to take a look at our past winners at the program website http://innovatio-awards.com Have a great year! IH

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