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w w w . c a n a d i a n l a w y e r m a g . c o m N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 39 party legal rankings/recognition for a reference. "My practice is usually 'follow your expert,'" Sidhu says. The reason is twofold: They have a relationship and those lawyers know her industry. "I've had lawyers that have now changed firms and, honestly, because they know our industry, and we're a unique industry . . . we usually follow the lawyer wherever they go," she says. "It's all about relationship building now- adays," Sidhu says. "That's why a lot of law- yers who are leaving big firms and opening up their own practices have clients because their clients are following them into their practice as well." For Ducks Unlimited, which operates mostly in rural areas, Goodwin seeks out the help of local, small-town firms. He says diversity is relevant, but it is not a buyer's market when seeking close-proximity legal advice in, for example, northern Manitoba. "They only have so many options." For the fourth year in a row, litigation is the most commonly outsourced work among legal departments, with 75 per cent saying it was the practice area they sent to outside firms the most. Employment and labour came in second at 55 per cent. Cost and transparency are key to building legal-department-to-outside-firm relationships. For four straight years, the most important thing firms can do to improve the working relationship with the company was being more concerned about costs. For Sidhu, the legal department and outside firm need to be on the same page about requirements, priorities and expectations for the file to keep costs in line. Without that communication, a legal department budget can be drained of hun- dreds of thousands in unanticipated costs, something Sidhu experienced on a recent deal, when she was working with one law- yer and didn't realize there were 10 law- yers working on the back end of the file. WHAT ARE THE KEY ISSUES IN YOUR LEGAL DEPARTMENT? LISTED IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE. 1. Risk management 2. Compliance/regulatory matters 3. Cost containment 4. Managing growth of company/ organization 5. Reputational management 6. Scope creep (clients offloading non-legal work to legal) 7. Cybersecurity 8. Legal department management and structure/moving to legal operations C O R P O R A T E C O U N S E L S U R V E Y Bright minds protecting bright ideas since 1893 A Top 10 Intellectual Property Boutique, as voted by Canadian Lawyer magazine! We understand the business of innovation and the vital role that IP plays in today's competitive, market-driven economy. Celebrating 125 years as Canada's IP firm! ridoutmaybee.com TORONTO | OTTAWA | BURLINGTON ntitled-6 1 2018-10-25 6:12 PM

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