Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/1238940
www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse 1 canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse EDITOR'S DESK Corporate counsel have always been relied upon to work with senior leaders and persuade others to adapt. Some things never change T he most effective in-house counsel are always open to change, progress and innovation. Staying still or relying on "how things have always been done" is never an option. But the best in-house counsel will demonstrate key skills that never change. In this issue, we look at the retail space (p. 32), where change is everywhere. "Innovation comes up in almost every aspect of retail," Kate McGilvray at Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP told us. "Retailers are collecting data for loyalty programs and customers are receiving notifications on their phones about events and promotions as they walk into malls," said Miranda Lam of McCarthy Tétrault LLP. "All these things are very exciting from an experiential perspective but have some interesting implications when it comes to privacy protection, data use and data governance." And some of these "interesting implications" can be serious, such as class actions, which can hit any industry. As we explore in our cover story (p. 36), there has been an increase in data privacy class actions involving institutions that own large amounts of data, such as hospitals, while pharmaceutical companies are often the target of product liability cases. And reacting to change is also not just about managing legal risk. With the corona- virus and climate change as the most recent examples of events having a dramatic and unpredictable impact on all industries, decisions in the legal department can have life-or-death implications, where good judgment is key. Peter Nguyen, who has led the charge for adopting technology at his company (p. 12), is keenly aware that his skills at persuasion are just as important as his familiarity with the technology he is working to promote. Analyzing and understanding the impact of change is critical to persuade his colleagues to adopt the tools he helped designed, he told us. While all of the change can seem overwhelming, in-house counsel should take heart that the need for their core skills such as judgment and persuasion will never diminish. Corporate counsel have always been relied upon to work with senior leaders, make decisions and persuade others to adapt. This, I can confidently tell you, will never change. Tim Wilbur, Editor-in-Chief Canadian Lawyer InHouse is published 6 times a year by HAB Press Limited. KEY MEDIA and the KEY MEDIA logo are trademarks of Key Media IP Limited, and used under license by HAB Press Limited. CANADIAN LAWYER INHOUSE is a trademark of HAB Press Limited. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reprinted without written permission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information presented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Canadian Lawyer InHouse disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reliance upon information in this publication. Publications Mail Agreement #41261516 ISSN 0703-2129 ©2020 GST/HST Registration #703184911RT001 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESS TO: CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 20 Duncan St., 3rd Floor, Toronto, ON, M5H 3G8 EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief Tim Wilbur Production Editor Patricia Cancilla Writer Lucy Saddleton CONTRIBUTORS Amanda Branch, Jasmine Godfrey, Jean-François De Rico, Pascal Archambault, Cheryl Foy, Ken Fredeen ART & PRODUCTION Art Director Brianna Freitag Lead, Media Production Coordinator Catherine Giles Global Production Manager Alicia Chin SALES & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT VP, Media & Client Strategy Dane Taylor Senior Business Development Manager Steffanie Munroe Business Development Manager Lynda Fenton National Account Executive Abhiram Prabhu CORPORATE President Tim Duce Events and Conference Manager Chris Davis Chief Information Officer Colin Chan Human Resources Manager Julia Bookallil Global CEO Mike Shipley Global COO George Walmsley HAB Press Limited 20 Duncan St., 3rd Floor Toronto, Ontario M5H 3G8 tel: +1 416 644 8740 www.keymedia.com EDITORIAL INQUIRIES tim.wilbur@keymedia.com CIRCULATION/ADDRESS CHANGES/ SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES Keith Fulford tel: 416 649-9585 • fax: 416 649-7870 keith.fulford@keymedia.com ADVERTISING INQUIRIES legaladvertise@keymedia.com ISSUE 15.02 canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse