Canadian Lawyer InHouse

february 2015 16 INHOUSE elcome to our third year of the InHouse View — an annual "look ahead" series of interviews in which we talk to leading corporate counsel about their current challenges and projects for the year. In the following pages you will discover their top projects for the coming year, how they are using their external counsel, their views on fee arrangements, and legal department structures. While two of this year's in-house lawyers have increasingly global interests, the other two are squarely domestically focused. All four have big projects on the go that will, in some cases, extend beyond the next fi ve years. They all share the desire to give their internal clients the best legal advice that refl ects the goals of the business. I think what you will fi nd interesting about the four in-house lawyers we are profi ling this year is that while they are juggling a multitude of tasks that include shifting concerns from the board level about threats like cyber security and data protection, they are also putting their mind to managing their legal departments differently. This is a refl ection of several things that include skill development but also structure that answers to today's governance issues. They want to bring more work in-house to develop expertise internally and some are changing the reporting structure of their current team to not only improve service to the business but in the case of WestJet and Metrolinx, Barbara Munroe and Mary Martin are looking to expand the career opportunities of the lawyers in their departments. In some cases that involves a lateral transfer into the business units. Many of you will relate to the challenges faced by Roger Fulton of Linamar, a global auto parts manufacturing company based in Guelph, Ont. Linamar is a great Canadian success story of growth. Fulton fi nds himself in the position of handling international and domestic growth in a two person legal department. With a recent acquisition in Germany he is looking at potentially adding another in-house lawyer to his team overseas. In Alberta, Robert Hemstock of energy company Enmax Corp. is wrestling with regulatory challenges and a major expansion project. In the following pages you can read how he was able to make the business case to add a lawyer in the last year even in an environment where it has been the preference to hold the line on shared service costs. As Hemstock explains, the revenue increase from bringing on the additional lawyer, as well as the avoided external cost, shows it will more than double on a positive relative to the salary. We hope their views provide some ideas for your own departments. SHAPING theFUTURE Four in-house counsel across industries discuss how they are dealing with more complex business challenges, often in a climate of constrained resources that requires they be both parts business and legal savvy. By JenniFeR BROWn

• Cover