Canadian Lawyer InHouse

31 canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse April 2015 l aw D e p a r t m e n t m a n a g e m e n t per cent of male CLOs reported total com- pensation packages of more than $400,000, only 26 per cent of female CLOs crossed this total compensation threshold. Simi- larly, nearly three in 10 men reported base salaries of $300,000 or more, compared to 22 per cent of women. "This was our first year examining diver- sity among in-house leaders as part of the annual CLO survey," said John Page, ACC board chairnab and senior vice president, chief corporate social responsibility of- ficer & chief legal officer at Golden State Foods Corp. "This year's survey and the 2014 ACC Global Work-Life Balance Re- port show that although we have made great strides to advance diversity in the profes- sion, our industry still needs to foster stron- ger inclusion programs and build diversity and inclusion into areas of compensation and succession." The report also provides a barometer of the top issues for the CLO and GC com- munity. Nearly all (96 per cent) CLOs rated ethics and compliance as an important issue for 2015; around 25 per cent of all CLOs and approximately 33 per cent of large law CLOs stated the topic would be "extremely impor- tant" in the year ahead. Additionally, compliance was the top practice area for hiring over the past year, especially for new positions created in Latin America (33 per cent) and Asia Pacific (30 per cent). Data breaches (82 per cent), litiga- tion (79 per cent), transparency (78 per cent), and mergers and acquisitions (76 per cent) rounded out the top five issues of concern to CLOs in the coming year Canada also leads other nations with re- gard to women in legal positions, according to the survey. In all regions of the globe, males made up the majority of legal staff within companies and organizations, except in Canada, where the percentage of females in legal positions was 54 per cent. However the news wasn't all good for Canada — in North America, Canada re- ported higher cuts to legal staff than the United States. The majority of CLOs in the survey re- ported an annual base salary that falls be- tween $150,000 to $399,999, with almost 11 per cent making $400,000 or more per year. However, some variation in base salary was found between those who identified as a member of a minority or underrepresented group and those who did not, and between male and female CLOs. When looking at total compensation, fe- male CLOs were significantly more likely than male CLOs to report total compensa- tion less than $200,000 annually (26 per cent versus 19 per cent). Men were more likely than women to report total compensation packages of $600,000 or more (21 per cent versus 14 per cent) and seven percentage points less likely to receive compensation packages of less than $200,000. Compliance was the top practice area for hiring over the past year with more positions created over the past 12 months in Latin America (33 per cent) and Asia Pacific (30 per cent). An average of 13 per cent of a CLO's time is spent ensuring a company is in com- pliance. Hartland Paterson can relate to those numbers. Last year the general counsel for CAE Inc. in Montreal added chief compli- ance officer to his title. CAE is a manufac- turer of simulation technologies and training services to airlines, aircraft manufacturers, defence, and mining companies. "I was doing half the job anyway by ac- cident rather than by design. It's not that I think the company has become riskier in the last decade — I would argue it's become less risky — but I have seen the enforcement en- vironment get so strong in the last decade," he says. "No week goes by that I'm not think- ing about compliance a fair bit." As he has been with CAE for 14 years, he felt he would have a better grasp for the issues rather than splitting it off as a separate hire. "I know there is a lot of writing saying it should be separate from legal but some of that I feel is a bit self-interest — people who want to be a chief compliance officer and create a new C-suite level position," he says. "We de- cided to take a more organized approach and it's been good." In fact Hartland says there's been some good financial payback for the company by adding the compliance role. "I thought com- pliance would be purely a cost centre but we've actually found cost savings." When it comes to issues around alterna- tive fee arrangements, in large law depart- ments (25+ employees), 53 per cent used flat fees for entire matters compared to 36 per cent in departments of 25 or less. 41 per cent of CLOs reported use of flat fees for an entire matter — a decrease of about seven per cent from last year, while use of periodic retainer fees for portfolios and flat fees for portfolios increased. When it comes to department spend: on average, five per cent of CLOs reported plans to make significant decreases in their total budget, with seven per cent in outside spending compared to two per cent in inside spending. More than 40 per cent of the average CLO's budget comprised of internal legal spending. What was your annual base salary (in USD) as of January 1, 2014 (excluding options, incentives, awards, bonuses)? acc clo 2015 survey - report on canadian gc base salary Total u.s. canada Base 1023 801 76 Less than $199,999 33% 31% 30% $200,000 to $299,999 35% 37% 41% $300,000 to $599,999 25% 27% 20% $600,000+ 2% 2% 1% Prefer not to answer 5% 4% 1%

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