Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
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a five-year plan is mandatory under the Canada Marine Act (there are 18 port authorities in Canada governed by the act). "We make sure we stay in those parameters," says Dean Readman, director of legal services and corporate secretary with Port Metro Vancouver. Each year, its board of directors has a brainstorming session in the spring, followed by a strategic planning session with key executives across the organization, including legal. This involves looking at how they can advance certain goals and priorities over the coming year, as part of its rolling five-year plan. Over the summer months, they fine-tune those objectives; in the fall a plan is drawn up for resources and the business plan is approved in December. "Instead of putting fires out we try to give strategic advice throughout the whole process," says Readman. "I look at what could go wrong and how we can add value from the beginning of the process to the end." Setting goals and objectives is par- ticularly important with a smaller legal team; Readman's team consists of four staff lawyers and himself. "We don't have to go to every meeting, as long as we keep informed and stay on a prudent path," he says. "We can add a lot of practical advice and strategic direction, not just legal advice." There are a number of approaches to developing a business plan, depending on the organization and its needs, but Catalyst Consulting's Stock says the initiative should come from the head of the legal department. "The business department isn't going to issue invitations," he says. But it's also critical in-house counsel get input from the business departments — and that means most likely they'll have to take the first step and initiate a conversation. Typically a business plan should be done every year, says Stock, and the process should start three months before the beginning of the fiscal year, which is when the business depart- ments are typically planning for the year ahead. That means fanning out and finding out what those priorities are. "Sit in on those meetings, so you understand the priorities and which you are likely to be involved with," says Stock. "Those become part of legal's goals and objectives for the year." This should not be confused with the mission statement of the legal department, he added. A business plan should set out your plans for the coming year, taking a customers-first approach. But that's just a start. It's also about how to make the legal department smarter, better, and faster. And it's about training and knowledge transfer of the legal team, as well as managing costs. "It's not a list of New Year's resolutions," says Stock. "They're New Year's resolutions accompanied by specific targets." And measuring and meeting those targets can help in-house counsel become a more indispensable part of the business. IH Between print issues of Canadian Lawyer InHouse keep abreast of news and developments affecting the in-house bar with our bi-weekly electronic newswire. w w w. c a n a d i a n law y er m a g . c o m / i n h o u s E February 2013 • 41