Canadian Lawyer InHouse

june 2014 28 INHOUSE june 2014 28 INHOUSE L aw D e p a r t m e n t M a n a g e m e n t ASK A LAWYER WHO HAS taken on the role as the fi rst in-house counsel within an organization and they will probably tell you by the time they arrived the company already needed at least one if not several more lawyers. But from the moment they walked in the door they had to do a lot of work to establish what value they brought before others could be added to the team. "You have to make the case to the CEO that what you're doing makes sound business sense when you look at the cost of bringing on addi- tional resources relative to the value that will be delivered at the end of the day," said Janice Odegaard, senior vice president and general counsel with Suncor Energy Inc., speaking at the recent Canadian Corporate Counsel Association annual national meeting in Calgary as part of a panel called, "Why it Makes Sense to Expand the Legal Department." Odegaard spoke about how effective le- gal departments can get overwhelmed with work but sometimes it's not high value or value-add work being done. If there is work being done that is not necessarily adding value or perhaps it should be done in a dif- ferent level of the company then that needs to be addressed. "You have to have a shared vision with the business about what the legal depart- ment is there for and what they're going to deliver and that they are adding value. This isn't just about identifying risks — it's not about being the department of 'no,' it's about being a valued and trusted business partner within the rest of your busi- ness and bringing that value. If you can close the loop at that end effi ciently you have a business case." So how do you assess whether the business shares the same vision of growth for the legal department? Odegaard and her co-presenter Gail Harding, senior vice president and general counsel of Canadian Western Bank, both use surveys to obtain feedback from inter- nal clients and both also have regular dia- logue with the business leaders to make sure they're on the same track and have the same priorities. "The business is always in the pro- cess of change. It's important to be closely aligned with that," said Odegaard. When as general counsel you identify a need to bring on additional resources you have a choice, she says, and that is Growing the department expansion of the legal departmen t doesn't always have to mean adding more lawyers but when you do it should be core to the business. BY jenniFer BrOWn

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