Canadian Lawyer InHouse

7 CANADiANLAWyERMAG.CoM/iNhousE april 2014 a roundup of legal department news and trends News Roundup Innes takes on lead role with CCCA A s competition heats up for in-house positions the role of organizations like the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association becomes more criti- cal, says the group's incoming chairwoman. "I think it's more competitive for a number of reasons," says Heather Innes. "You're seeing some in-house counsel staff grow and the role is expanding dramatically. Whereas historically we may have addressed very specifi c legal issues, now we have legal is- sues as well as compliance issues and the regulatory environment is much more com- plex and global in nature and that's going to attract some very talented candidates." As the role of in-house becomes more complicated, Innes says companies will be attracting high-quality candidates but it is expected members will also look to the CCCA to help them with the ongoing de- mands of their jobs. Based in Oshawa, Ont., Innes' day job is global process leader, international trade law and chief privacy offi cer at General Motors Canada. She heads up a team that consists of 14 lawyers in 14 countries. They address trade law issues that impact opera- tions GM conducts around the world. Her offi ce in Oshawa is located at the headquarters for GM in Canada and in- cludes fi ve other lawyers providing support for the Canadian operation. Innes takes over the CCCA role from Grant Borbridge, vice president, legal and general counsel with MEG Energy Corp. in Calgary, who had served in the position for the last 18 months. The CCCA execu- tive group consists of 20 senior in-house counsel at the CCCA. "I'm very excited; it's a great privilege for me to take on this role. Grant has done a tremendous job and I'm excited to take up the challenge." Innes says she wants to be "very focused and aligned" with the changing needs of CCCA members. "Our members come from public and pri- vate institutions across this country as well as large, small, domestic, and multinational organizations, but the one thing that is similar is that the needs of the organi- zation are changing because the external environment is chang- ing," she says. Increasing globalization, complexity of regulatory over- sight, and technology are all playing a huge role and demanding change from in-house counsel at the same time. Innes says there are four ways the CCCA is going to try and help keep members in the coming year. A survey of CCCA members last year re- vealed they were most interested in profes- sional development, networking, and career development opportunities. In response to those needs, Innes says there will be continued professional de- velopment programs with very "tailored" programming. That includes the national conference coming up in Calgary April 6-8. As well, the CCCA's Certifi ed In- house Counsel – Canada professional development program, which rolls out for the fi rst time this spring in To- ronto, will be followed by a second co- hort next fall in Calgary. The third class will be back in Toronto next spring. As well, there are plans to revamp the CCCA mentoring program — "Counsel Guiding Counsel: The Path to Excellence" — which Innes is chairwoman of, by en- hancing the tools and skillsets brought to the relationship by the mentor. "Many people are wonderful mentors without any training but others want to have a better sense of how they can maximize the experience for the mentee," says Innes. "It's an extraordinary opportunity for young lawyers to tap into the knowledge many senior in-house have to offer them," says Innes. "These relationships prove to be incredibly valuable to the mentees and also to the mentors." — Jennifer Brown IH Federal lawyers just catching up to provincial salary levels A year after signing their fi rst negotiated contract netting them a 12-per-cent pay hike for the current year, federal lawyers will be heading back to the negotiation table in the next few months as the Association of Justice Counsel fi led its notice to bargain Jan. 9. In 2012, the association, which represents about 2,700 federal lawyers, reached its fi rst negotiated settlement. It will expire this May. President Lisa Blais says it took a long time for the Treasury Board to implement the deal and members only received their increase payouts in July 2013. "This 2012 deal is only the beginning for us. We had over 20 years of wage restraint so we stagnated — we went from the top of the list in terms of our provincial counterparts to third from the bottom over 20 years. Now this deal puts us behind Ontario and Alberta," says Blais. While some are arguing federal lawyers are heading into their negotiations in a better position than their other federal colleagues, Blais argues similar issues are at play. "We're working under diffi cult circumstances. They're asking us to do more with less. They're heaping on the legislation and responsibilities and more complex tools to work with such as the mandatory minimum sentence regimes and they're taking away resources," she says. While they didn't feel the reductions in staffi ng like other areas of the civil service have, a total of 49 positions for lawyers in the federal government have been eliminated. Salaries for federal lawyers range from $70,000 to an average over $100,000. Recruitment for government legal jobs isn't hard, says Blais, but retention is diffi cult. IH heather innes

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