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28 www.canadianlawyermag.com FEATURE GC PROFILE "It certainly is a team effort. We believe everyone in the organization, beyond even just my department, has a role to play in identifying and managing risk across the organization" MILESTONES 1997 Megan Evans began her career at Goodmans LLP 1999 Called to the Ontario Bar 2000–2007 Was a partner/associate at Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP 2007 Joined the Hospital for Sick Children as director of legal services 2009 Promoted to chief legal officer back to the analysis and look for another way of handling the situation. "It certainly is a team effort. We believe everyone in the organization, beyond even just my department, has a role to play in identifying and managing risk across the organization," says Evans. Evans spends a lot of time with leaders across the organization to support them in their risk identification and management roles. "We need to be driven by what is best for our patients, and that has become the overall mantra for our department," she adds. "If something is risky and it's not going to be ultimately what's best for our patients, then we need to take a step back and look at how we can manage some of those risks and mitigate them or manage them in a way that makes it tolerable for the organization." Cybersecurity and privacy are also top of mind for Evans and her team. "All organizations are concerned about cyber breaches and attacks, but in health care we have the personal information of thousands of people, and we know that infor- mation is very sensitive, so we're constantly working with our friends in IT on various strategies to ensure we've done what we can to manage the cyber security risk," she says. Although the legal department has limited funds for new technology and equipment, Evans anticipates that artificial intelligence use will become more and more critical to the team. "As our organization matures and grows in its adoption of AI in the clinical and research arenas, there will be opportuni- ties for us in the legal department, the risk department and the privacy department to think about how we can use AI in our port- folio to streamline activities and improve outcomes," she says. SickKids' legal department frequently relies on the support of external counsel partners, so Evans seeks firms that bring substantive knowledge and expertise to the table and are interested in developing a real partnership with the organization. Evans notes that SickKids has seen a lot of attrition over the past two years, and the hospital sector is certainly not immune from the 'Great Resignation.' Although it's been challenging to lose valuable team members, this has also offered an opportu- nity to recruit new talent. Evans makes it a priority to ensure that team members remain engaged and have a sense of pride in their work as they continue to work in a virtual or hybrid environment for the safety of patients. She also encourages her team to maintain a healthy work-life balance by dedicating time to their personal lives.