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MAY 2015 28 INHOUSE partnership," says Bindu Cudjoe deputy general counsel at BMO Financial Group. "There isn't necessarily a need to be terribly creative about where you go and where you step off that ladder. So what's empowering and a little scary for somebody who comes in-house for the fi rst time is having to do that kind of thinking. "I think because of the nature of our department we have a senior leadership team that is made up of very seasoned professionals and I think any of those people could, if need be, step into the role. It's not always in our control in the legal department to decide who our successor is. There's obviously other very important stakeholders but I do think part of our role is to make sure we have a strong pipeline to lead the organization forward from a legal and regulatory risk management perspective." Succession planning in the legal department isn't just about grooming someone to take over the general counsel's offi ce. It should also be about developing a team and providing career advancement, says Andrea Wood, senior vice president of legal services at Telus in Vancouver. "Everybody from the general counsel on down has a succession plan, so in those plans we identify people who are likely successors and we start with the succession plan and ensure that in building their development plans we are building the capability they would need to assume the role for which they are slated as successor," says Wood. Large legal departments tend to do a more proactive job of creating career paths and succession plans, but it seems more smaller groups are tackling the issue these days as retention of talent becomes more important and employees demand it. "I do think some departments and GCs are trying to do better for their good people in recent years," says Joe Milstone, co- founder of Cognition LLP who sees a lot of in-house legal departments. "Particularly as departments grow, they have the ability to create a bit more of a career path with different levels of seniority rather than just a GC and 'everyone else.'" Often, however, succession planning for that top job is pushed to the side. "I imagine this is in part because some GCs aren't too comfortable in having a plan so ready for their departure [possibly before he or she is ready to depart], and also sometimes because 'anointing' a successor can cause political and divisive issues in the department," says Milstone. Telus has an advanced succession and development plan for all of its employees and it extends to the legal department. "As part of the Telus team, our legal department is expected to be just as careful about succession planning as any other part of the organization," says Wood. "We spend a lot of time on talent development and for us, succession planning is part of talent development." The Telus legal team has formal succession plans in place for almost all CONNECT WITH IN-HOUSE COUNSEL COLLEAGUES AT LEXPERT.CA/CCCA Check out in-house counsel's best networking tool! The 2014/15 Lexpert CCCA/ACCJE Directory & Yearbook online edition is a user- friendly, outstanding key resource for all in-house counsel. Along with immediate access to more than 4,000 listees at more than 1,900 organizations, you'll DOVR´QGIUHVKHGLWRULDOFRQWHQW information on deals and links to important resources. Directory listees and CCCA members can also receive log-in credentials for access to detailed contact information to be able to connect with colleagues or research the in-house bar. ANYWHERE. ANYTIME. ON ANY DEVICE. Untitled-4 1 2015-03-02 9:12 AM

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