Canadian Lawyer InHouse

37 CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE MAY 2015 challenges from a political standpoint as well," says Weisman. "There are countries that, once we do our research, may require a longer road map to launch." Despite these challenges, the company has experienced year-over-year double-digit growth over the past decade, according to Weisman. A big part of his role is to help develop strategies to continue that growth. "It's funny, people always assume my job is heavily focused on litigation. It's actually not, thankfully. We use external counsel for any litigation matter," he says. "We have no litigation right now — my litigation mandate is nil. There have been times when it's part of the role to manage the litigation." But what about those angry spouses? "A lot of that stuff is dealt with at a customer service level," he says, however there has been the odd case: Back in 2012, a North Carolina man sued Ashley Madison when his then-wife used the site to hook up with another man (he also sued the other man). Robert Schindler sought more than $10,000 in damages, claiming alienation of affection and criminal conversation. (North Carolina is one of a handful of states that still awards P r o f e s s i o n a l P r o f i l e SECOND SNAPSHOT company is growing. Last year Ashley Mad- ison launched in 20 new countries and now has 32 million members. "While we all understand that the service this company offers is somewhat controver- sial, the reality is — whether fortunately or unfortunately — infi delity is universal and it was prevalent long before Ashley Madi- son was around," says Weisman. "And that's what allows us to expand internationally relatively seamlessly. There's a universal de- mand for our services." Because of this rapid expansion, his role includes a large international component. "We've always been successful in North America and one of our goals in 2014 was to continue to launch successfully in interna- tional and emerging markets," he says. That's challenging, though, because while there may be universal demand for the company's services, every market is uniquely different. Consider the cultural differences between India, Israel, Turkey, and Eastern Europe. "All these countries have different frame- works, different societal norms, and that was a big challenge," says Weisman. A lot of re- search is done before launching into a new country, he added, from average income to regulatory requirements and societal norms. "We evaluate the different international opportunities from a lot of different per- spectives — demographics, GDP, but also the legal and regulatory framework. So I'll provide a fi rst-level assessment and then if we need to engage external counsel we'll do that as well." These new markets can be challenging, considering the nature of the site. Last No- vember, Philippine Justice Secretary Leila de Lima sought to block the site from the country, charging that it facilitates crime. Adultery is against the law in the Phil- ippines, punishable with jail time, even though the law is largely not enforced (and many powerful men fl aunt mistresses). Singapore and South Korea have both banned the site, citing that it threatens fam- ily values. Singapore's Media Development Authority said in 2013 that the web site was a "fl agrant disregard of our family values and public mortality," and would work with Internet service providers to block the site. "Some countries are more conservative than others, some countries add different punitive damages when a marriage fails and someone else is to blame.) "Most people . . . think there must be a lot of litigation, I must have some crazy sto- ries," says Weisman. "I'm a business lawyer. The vast majority of my time is spent on business and commercial and strategic is- sues, not on the salacious [stuff ]." All marketing, for example, has to be vet- ted by Weisman — whether it's a banner ad, billboard, radio spot, or TV commercial. "There are times we have to reel something back if it would be a violation of some law," he says. "I personally deal with advertising regulators in different countries — I have to work with them to get our TV spots ap- proved, and sometimes our spots can only air at certain hours of the night." The same commercial that runs in Cana- da could run in Australia or Israel but there may be some tweaking required. "We al- ways are open to working co-operatively and even collaboratively with the different regulators and advertising approval boards to make sure our ads get green lit," he says. It doesn't always work out though: In 2009, the Toronto Transit Commission turned down a deal to wrap a streetcar in the company's motto. And in 2001, CTV turned down the company's Super Bowl ad (where a woman announces to a boardroom that her husband is having an affair to a round of approval). It's a job that keeps Weisman on his toes. "I can honestly say the day-to-day here is exciting, much more so than in past roles, much more unpredictable," he says. "We get to see and appreciate our successes here." Weisman spent almost seven years as se- nior legal counsel at Allstream, followed by a few years at Avaya — both multibillion- dollar communications and networking technology companies many Canadians have never heard of. That's not really an is- sue that Weisman has in his new role. Most people have heard of Ashley Madison — whether they love it or hate it. "Right now it's one of Canada's most suc- cessful technology startups," he says. "At the end of the day, when the opportunity presented itself, it really was a no-brainer. I came from legacy institutionalized com- panies that are constantly in cost-cutting mode [and went] to a company in constant growth mode." IH T H E L A W Y E R Avi Weisman T H E C O M P A N Y Ashley Madison • Weisman did his undergrad at Western University, studied law at Osgoode Hall Law School, and graduated in 2000 • He was called to the bar in February 2002 • Weisman articled at Lafleur Brown in Toronto, which later merged with Gowlings • He worked as general counsel at Allstream and Avaya before Avid Life Media • He has an MBA from York's Schulich School of Business

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