The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/1544922
www.canadianlawyermag.com 37 ADRIAN LANG Company: Staples Canada Title: Chief people and legal officer Expanding the team, streamlining contracts, and managing CEO transitions for sustained growth Cost savings and business transformation have defined Staples Canada's legal and HR functions since 2021, with Adrian Lang a central part of the change. She didn't hesitate to expand her legal department soon after she took on the role, moving from a team of one to five. "I was able to demonstrate significant immediate cost savings by building an internal team, which is the point of having a captive in-house team – it should save you legal costs, and it did," she says. Staples' transformation, which began after its 2017 acquisition by Sycamore Partners, continues to accelerate. The company's B2B business has surged, with Lang overseeing a string of acquisitions. officer. The role had connections to her original legal mandate. "We see overlap on our employee issues that we tackle in legal," she says. With three CEOs over the past four years, Lang's focus has been on maintaining stability. "From my perspective as chief legal officer, my role during these transitions is to offer continuity and support – not just to the incoming and outgoing CEOs but also to the broader leadership team," she explains. Lang has also pushed for technological change, ditching what she calls "a very expensive document repository" for an AI-powered contract management platform. For in-house counsel, she says, the big worry is "the contracts, what we don't know, what's lurking either that legal never saw or things so far back that no one in the current business knows." Privacy and cyber risk are at the forefront. "It really is an ever-changing area from a regulatory perspective, particularly in Quebec," she says. "One of the key jobs is to just stay ahead of what the requirements are, what's coming, are we changing quickly enough, are we compliant?" Lang's portfolio expanded again when she assumed the role of chief human resources As general counsel of MDA Space, David Snarch sits at the centre of a global space business that designs and launches satellites, delivers services from space and in-orbit, runs classified programs, and sells complex systems to governments and commercial customers who expect zero surprises. He is responsible for legal, contracts, and regulatory compliance matters in a business built on advanced space technology, rather than a commodity product. "MDA Space, as a space company, operates in a fairly highly regulated sector, given the sensitive nature of our systems, products, and various operations," he says, and being public "adds a layer of regulatory oversight on the company." Those pressures can manifest in cross- border work, where certain information or solutions cannot move without government approval. "We have customers internationally," he says, and "certain systems and products that we develop and export to different jurisdictions require export licenses, which can be quite complex." At the same time, parts of the business are highly classified, so his team must ensure that the appropriate clearances are obtained, Snarch adds. As with many global businesses, anti-corruption risk is another persistent area of focus. MDA does business in many different countries and often relies on distributors or third-party representatives, which requires a fairly comprehensive third-party due diligence program to ensure that the company understands with whom they are doing business and that they operate with a level of business ethics that they can trust. That kind of regulatory complexity suits a lawyer who cut his teeth in high-velocity deal work. Snarch's comfort in a fast-paced environment stems from a transaction-heavy start in private practice at Lawson Lundell LLP in Vancouver, where he worked in the corporate finance and M&A group and handled every transaction he could. In the early part of his career, he sought to experience it all, including IPOs, reverse takeovers, and private equity investments. DAVID SNARCH Company: MDA Space Title: General counsel, vice president & corporate secretary The legal strategy behind satellites, classified programs, and international contracts