Canadian Lawyer InHouse

recovering tens of millions of dollars in revenue — identifying it for our business units and then taking steps ranging from demand letters to lawsuits that will recover those monies. We are engaged in that and every day looking for more opportunities." Tuckett notes all law departments can do it. There are two reasons: "We're a cost centre and that helps us re-create our image a bit and deflect from that cost and become a revenue generator." It also positions the legal department to be close to the client and proactive. "That's one of many ways we can be proactive too helping to advance the interests of our business clients." For instance, Tuckett points to an accounts receivable strategy that might not be aggressive enough. "You may have large receivables that would otherwise be written off but with earlier attention you can recover a good amount." Even in the event of a bankruptcy they were able to put a customer on cash only early on then take deductions from all the rebates they would have been earning and whittle their debt down to a fraction of the other creditors that let them run on credit much longer. "So when we got to the bankruptcy stage and there was no money we had a much smaller write off at the end of the day for our business people." The more significant win backs are uncollected royalties where someone might be using something of DuPont's and there's no one tracking the royalty agreement. "It might have gone unnoticed and they see opportunities for legal to look at some contracts and call or audit them. There are also outright breaches of contracts and lawsuits that we don't always count as recoveries but there are some you have to sue in order to get the licence payment." In Toronto, Tuckett reports directly to Michael Oxley, the president of DuPont Canada, and within the legal department, to Sharon Leyhow, the associate general counsel in the U.S. Prior to going in-house at DuPont Tuckett was counsel at the law firm of Arent Fox LLP in Washington, D.C. where he spent 10 years as part of that firm's litigation and employment practice groups. While at Arent Fox, employment law became his focus but once he went inhouse he found there was demand for the other areas he had experience in at the firm. "I was able to switch into commercial law with DuPont. I see myself as more of a legal generalist and a business lawyer. I think my litigation and employment and other commercial background helped me see the big picture of a business and really help with everything from pensions, to employment issues and contracts, to the competition issues and ethics violations and investigations. My background really suits me well to provide a legal and business adviser role for the company." Living in the heart of downtown Toronto, Tuckett says he's enjoying the fast-paced lifestyle. "I have been pleased by the depth of richness of diversity of Toronto. The traffic is horrible but it's part of being in a good city. I do love being here — Toronto is a great city." IH Employment and Labour Lawyers Experience Counts. Referrals respected and appreciated. Shields O'Donnell MacKillop LLP 416.304.6400 65 Queen Street W, Suite 1800, Toronto, Ontario Canada M5H 2M5 Shields_IH_Apr_11.indd 1 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 February3/1/11 10:04:5645 2013 • AM

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