14 www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse
FEATURE
Volume of work most
significant challenge for
in-house counsel
THE YEAR 2020 was tumultuous for many
in-house counsel, with the pandemic forcing
legal departments to navigate unprecedented
challenges for their organizations, while
continuing to manage day-to-day legal
matters. Unsurprisingly, the volume of work
posed a significant challenge for 78 per cent
of in-house counsel who participated in
Canadian Lawyer's 2020 Corporate Counsel
Survey, while 53 per cent indicated that
spontaneity of requests was problematic. Will
Ramjass, assistant general counsel at
McDonald's Canada, is not surprised at these
results, as he says the pandemic period
greatly increased the volume of work for
restaurant and retail brands.
"Being an essential business, we stayed
open during the lockdowns, which meant
there was a lot of work with regard to health
and safety regulations and making sure our
crew and guests were kept safe," he says.
At VIA Rail Canada, the legal team also had
a very busy year — in part due to a major
modernization project that began in 2020 and
in part due to blockades in February where
demonstrators protesting the construction of
a pipeline that crosses Wet'suwet'en territory
forced train cancellations.
"It was almost helpful to have experienced
the blockades because, by the time COVID hit,
Canadian Lawyer's annual Corporate Counsel Survey found
external legal spend increased in 2020, due to isolated situations
and pandemic-related issues
HOW MANY LAW FIRMS ARE
YOU USING?
0
2.99%
1 to 2
10.45%
3 to 5
38.81%
6 to 10
34.33%
11 to 15
7.46%
15+
5.97%
we already had a structure in place for
managing a crisis, so we went straight from
one crisis to the next," says Genevieve Richard,
director of legal affairs at VIA Rail Canada.
Almost half of our survey respondents also
cited cost pressure on legal departments and
