Canadian Lawyer InHouse

just entering data in a database, because you needed to read the contract. For most, it's the first time they get to read contracts; you don't really do that when you're in law school." The students spent about four months working full time on the project, and had their work quality assured by Ross and another colleague. Would a smaller company have the budget for this approach? "If it's a small company they would have fewer contracts," Ross points out. "Some students are prepared to work without any remuneration just for the experience." But after a system's up and running, don't expect to sit back and relax. Tools often need to be tweaked and updated as a business grows, contracts, or shifts its focus. Renato Pontello was tasked with providing high-level guidance on some additional Absolute professionalism and respect for you and your client relationships, and the tenacity required to go the distance in pursuit of the best possible outcome. Absolute professionalism and respect for you and your For proven experience in class actions, count on Lerners. client relationships, and the tenacity required to go the distance in pursuit of the best possible outcome. Contact our London or Toronto office today and turn our experience to your advantage For proven experience in class actions, count on Lerners. Contact our London or Toronto office today and turn our experience to your advantage London: 519 672 4510 Toronto: 416 867 3076 www.lerners.ca 28 ntitled-1 1 • a u gu st 2013 features for his former employer, Zarlink Semiconductor's in-house document management system, before Zarlink was acquired in October 2011. He decided, since the firm had acquired a number of other companies, it would be useful to add a patents database to draw lots of scattered information together in one place. Correlating patents of product lines would make it easier if the firm were involved in litigation and help to quantify a potential lawsuit. Integrating complex records from other large companies was no mean feat, but setting realistic goals helped to keep colleagues from other departments on board, he says. "By setting realistic deadlines I never used the excuse that 'we're working on the database so can't support you.' I always made sure we did both, so it never became an issue." As Zarlink diversified, selling off real estate in Sweden and a manufacturing plant in Swindon, Ont., having well-organized records provided for swift, smooth transactions. But Pontello, now legal counsel at Solantro Semiconductor Corp., says the document management system really came into its own when Zarlink received a hostile takeover bid in May 2011. "The bid was strategically timed so that a lot of the battle would be fought in the height of summer when our white knights would be vacationing," he recalls. "We were able to create a virtual data room within the first three to four days. We hastily prepared it with the central records we had for human resources, finance, legal. In a short period of time we had a due diligence room set up. It allowed us to move forward very rapidly." In the end, Zarlink had 30 interested parties and was able to build up its price due to all the information it had at its disposal from the database. "We were able to educate [the parties] as to our product lines. If we had been caught flat-footed we would have been sitting ducks and really wouldn't have achieved the same market valuation," Pontello says. Knowledge centre Another way to extract value from a document management system, says Jaar, INHOUSE 13-04-26 12:36 PM

• Cover