Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/1336129
www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse 19 AT PUROLATOR INC., a surge in demand for e-commerce has created significant volumes of packages, putting additional pressure upon the entire operation. The Canadian courier giant, which offers deliveries to more than 210 countries and territories worldwide, is also prepared to assist in the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines around the country, if the request should arise. Among many projects planned for 2021, the legal department will be further devel- oping its risk management function, as well as working on implementing a contract lifecycle management system to accelerate customer onboarding, while also providing insight into contract data to rapidly inform business decisions. "I always say that, without data, you're flying blind," says Noel. "It'll be good to have a very disciplined approach to decision-making that's based on data that we have across all of our contracts with our customers and our vendors." Finding ways to measure the performance of the legal department is also top of mind for Noel. As a vocal advocate for diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, Noel intends to strengthen her resolve to ensure that external counsel partners are similarly focused. Purolator will continue to work with firms that focus on diverse talent for succession planning and the firms that ignore this issue are unlikely to see very much work from Purolator, Noel says. INHOUSE: What business challenges are you anticipating at Purolator in 2021? NOEL: Twenty-twenty has been very noteworthy and exciting for Purolator. As an essential service, we've been really trying to navigate all the different challenges to make sure that we can keep Canadians safe and make sure that goods still flow. In 2021, we will continue to prioritize health and safety, first and foremost, and contactless deliveries to keep people safe. We're also managing extreme volume as a result of the surge in e-commerce and home delivery of everything from board games to patio warmers to support Canadians staying home during the pandemic. You're going to see that continue into 2021 and, as Canadians get comfortable ordering things that they wouldn't normally order to the home and they see that it's something that can be effective and can keep everyone safe, I think we'll probably see some more of that. We really are going to be accelerating a lot of our strategic priorities to help businesses recover from the pandemic and that means increasing network capacity. Hopefully, we'll be able to do our part in assisting with the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine in Canada. It's going to be an enormous undertaking, and it will require co-ordination and co-operation from a number of the supply SUE-LYNN NOEL Vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary Purolator Inc. Mississauga, ON