Canadian Lawyer InHouse

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019 44 INHOUSE By Mark Young In Closing CMHC legal readies for its part in corporation's transformation Team of 40 sets its sights on a new way to work as the organization modernizes. T his article is a bit like the opening act in a play. Its aim is to introduce the cast of charac- ters — our legal team at Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation — and the themes we'll be exploring over the next fi ve bi-monthly columns. In many ways, the legal team at CMHC, Canada's national housing agency, is a perfect vehicle for an ex- tended series of this sort. Embedded within a complex and rapidly modernizing Crown corporation, the 40 or so professionals (lawyers, paralegals, governance experts) comprising the law and governance group at CMHC are at the centre of many of the trends and op- portunities transforming in-house legal departments. From new technologies and tools to physical space change to deeper shifts in workplace culture, we're be- ing challenged to think in new ways about how we interact, manage information and collaborate with our business partners. For this reason, and in the spirit of sharing the stage, Deborah Greenberg, our chief legal offi cer and corporate secretary, proposed a series of columns exploring in-house prac- tice through different sets of eyes within the CMHC team. Within the broader law and governance group, I'm fortunate to head up a team that partners with internal support functions (includ- ing HR and IT) and manages litigation. This "team potpourri" (so nicknamed for the variety that comes its way) includes responsibility for knowledge manage- ment, a catch-all handle for how we capture, organize and share information. As you'll see in a column to come, as lawyers, we're reaping the benefi ts of a broader technological journey at CMHC that has brought new digital platforms, spaces and opportunities for sharing and pushing out knowledge. Those new tools — better document management systems, automated templates and processes — are also helping free up time and en- ergy that can be directed toward higher-value work. We'll also look at how broader organizational change has pushed us to ask what we can stop and what we can do better. As part of a new organizational structure that is breaking down silos, the law and governance sector recently came together with several key internal functions under our chief legal offi cer's leadership. The combination, which brought legal under one roof with IT, data governance and analytics, among other functions, has helped reinforce our role as an integrated and valued business partner. In a similar vein, we'll also look at how the legal team is supporting new thinking and approaches to external partnerships, particularly as it supports the delivery of a 10-year, $40-billion national housing strategy. The broader workplace culture at CMHC has changed as well, and we'll share what that has meant for the diverse group of lawyers at the corporation. We're far more geographically dispersed, mobile and connected than we were even two years ago. A focus on productivity over "place" has seen the physical offi ce — once the default work location — become a tool for achieving results and not an end in itself. Work is now a thing to "do" as opposed to a place to go, and that's having important implications for how we're working and collaborating as a legal team and how we're mea- suring success. Ultimately, in navigating these trends and themes, our best solutions and approaches have come out of the collective experience of the group, from our new- est members to our most experienced. It's fi tting, therefore, that we'll be using this space, in the com- ing columns, to explore these themes, as well as others, through the diverse voices and perspectives that make up our team. IH Mark Young heads up the corporate advisory and knowledge management group at CMHC, overseeing litigation management and legal support to a range of internal business partners, including HR and IT. Those new tools — better document management systems, automated templates and processes — are also helping free up time and energy that can be directed toward higher-value work.

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