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six years ago when the department grew by three additional lawyers, all of whom were women. Over the years there have been six maternity leaves to cover off. "What we've done is recruited for someone who was willing to do a term and in most cases we've brought them on as an employee for a one year term. It gives them some benefits but it's a challenge too because the pool of candidates when you're looking for a term employee as opposed to a full-time employee is much smaller." The type of work the AESO needs done is also somewhat unique. "If you're an oil and gas legal department and need to fill a mat leave in Alberta there are a lot of people with experience in that area but we can't really go out and just pick someone to work in the electric industry — there aren't that many people who know the business," he says. "We tried to design the job description and function to be more generic legal work. We found that one of the candidates who did that, when she was finishing up her first mat leave another came along so we extended her position for a couple of years." Kram says at the end of that lawyer's term she admitted she didn't feel as engaged as the rest of the team because she wasn't doing some of the core work of the business. "We reallocated some of the work and then she really enjoyed it," he says. "We've realized that to the extent we can, make the job as interesting as we can." At the same time Kram has to find the right fit to cover a mat leave he says he also has to try and minimize the disruption to his internal clients at the AESO. "It takes a while for us to make a solid connection with the internal clients and if you're going to bring someone new in and it takes a good year to get that going," he says. In fact Alberta has been a growth area for contract lawyers. "In Alberta there is a lot of projectbased work," says Parmar. "Especially with the oil and gas companies there is work in setting up a new plant, for example. There is a lot of regulatory and other work in setting up the plant but once built they don't have the need for that person anymore. So for that reason we've seen more project counsel used here." On the candidate side it's something Parmar is seeing more people become interested in for the flexibility it offers. "It's an economic reality that people need to do this and have that flexibility. You also see it with the millennial generation who want to work really hard for eight months and then maybe have a month off. The career path is not as linear as it used to be and people have a lot more options in how to get to their final destination. The really smart employers are embracing that but I know legal is a particularly challenging field to do that in." Kram says his advice is to plan for the transition early, let internal clients know a full time lawyer is leaving for a period of time, that continuity will be maintained, and there will be overlap coverage, if possible. IH CLE EVENTS DESIGNED FOR LAW FIRMS AND CORPORATIONS West LegalEdcenter® is the leading provider of CLE events for the legal industry. Below you'll find upcoming live conferences that might be of interest to you and your team. You can register for yourself and any members of your department. Registration can be applied to anyone in your company – a different person could attend each event. Social Media for Law Firms 2013 September 19 – New York $795 26th Annual ERISA Litigation Chicago, IL – October 16 New York, NY – December 4 $875 Marketing Metrics for Law Firms 2013 September 20 – New York $795 CLE – up to 6.0 credits available* 18th Annual Law Firm Leaders Forum New York, NY – October 17-18 $2,295 12th Annual CFO/COO Forum New York, NY – October 24-25 $1, 95 Untitled-3 1 2013 Corporate Whistleblowing Forum New York, NY – September 26 $595 CLE – up to 5.0 credits available* Institute for Corporate Counsel New York, NY – December 6 $295 – Corporate $1,595 – Law Firms DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE Individual Discount – Receive 15% off any individual program. Use promo code 15CORPORATE at checkout. Group Discounts – We have great group discounts available for you and your colleagues. The more events you purchase, the more you save: • Purchase 2 registrations, get 20% off • Purchase 3 registrations, get 30% off Call 1-800-308-1700 for more information or to register. CLE – up to 4.0 credits available* w w w. c a n a d i a n law y er m a g . c o m / i n h o u s E 13-06-26 august 2013 35 8:18 AM •

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