Canadian Lawyer

36 N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 w w w . c a n a d i a n l a w y e r m a g . c o m W hile alternative fee arrangements and seeking out external law firms with a diverse roster of lawyers were not top of mind for most in- house counsel who participated in Canadian Lawyer's 2018 Corpo- rate Counsel Survey, the billable-hour model and developing exter- nal counsel relationships were. And although the survey indicated legal departments kept their workweeks moderate, others say 60-hour workweeks go with the territory. Once again, risk management is the top issue facing legal departments in 2018, presenting a pressing issue but also an opportunity, says Tony Linardi, general coun- sel and corporate secretary at Golder Associates Ltd., a global engineering firm with clients in oil and gas, mining, power, infrastructure and manufacturing. Corporations want all their departments to add to the bottom line, and risk man- agement is a chance for the legal team to add value to the company, Linardi says. "Over time, where the company's either losing money or not being as profitable as they can because of risk issues, that's one thing that the legal team can actually come in and show value and add real value," he says. "At the end of the day, the company wants every department to contribute to its bottom line." Compliance was a close second for respondents. With Golder's competitors in the mining industry facing steep fines and some executives jailed for fraud and corruption, Linardi says the company is hyper- conscious and vigilant about compliance. "From our perspective, in the engineer- ing and construction industry, compliance has become huge," he says. "More and more, the C-suite wants to make sure that the company's being compliant in all regards, whether it's domestic applications or foreign applications." Gary Goodwin, executive corporate secretary and counsel at Ducks Unlimited Canada, says that, depending on the risk profile of the client, the risk may be something to embrace. In-house counsel don't want anything to happen on their watch, but it is also their job to help facilitate transactions, he says. "I think lawyers are too focused on trying to get rid of the risk when it's really determined by the risk profile of the client itself as to whether or not it's a risk they can, certainly, take on," he says. Managing risk also requires the legal depart- ment be engaged with the rest of the company because legal is the quarterback for risk manage- ment, whether it happens in human resources, finance or it involves an insurance provider, bank or the media, says Linardi. "So, it's pretty important to make sure that there's someone that [gets] involved quickly and knows how the company handles risk," he says. Counter to risk management's perennial dominance in the survey, for four years, seeking out diverse law firms has not been a prevalent practice among in-house legal departments. Of the 212 respondents in 2018, just 11.9 per cent said they were in the habit of asking for a diverse roster of lawyers to work with, much like in 2015 and 2016, and following a high of 21 per cent in 2017. Seventy-one per cent said they do not make this ask. PARTNERSHIPS KEY FOR IN-HOUSE SUCCESS Canadian Lawyer's annual Corporate Counsel Survey found risk and relationship management were key concerns for in-house counsel By Aidan Macnab t h e a n n u a l Presented by CORPORATE COUNSEL S U R V E Y

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