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CIVIL WAR AT THE CBA-CCCA LEAVES BEHIND QUESTIONS, ANGER, AND AN OPENING FOR A RIVAL. FOR BY ANDI BALLA FIGHTING C INDEPENDENCE heryl Foy's membership renewal to the Canadian Bar Association and its subgroup for in-house lawyers, the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association, is coming up. The general counsel at Carleton University in Ottawa is very aware of this because there is a card on her desk serving as a constant reminder. The CCCA has been an important part of her life since 2005, when Foy started rising through the membership ranks, becoming treasurer, vice president, and eventually president of Canada's oldest and largest organization serving corporate counsel. A volunteer working with other volunteers, she spent hours, days, weeks — even a good part of her last Christmas vacation — working on behalf of the organiza- tion. It was something that made sense, she says. It felt natural to serve and she was deeply motivated by a tight-knit group of dedicated volunteer board members who aimed to assist the professional lives of the in-house lawyer community. Things were not any different on Jan. 17. She was heading to a meeting to secure a sponsorship for an upcoming CCCA event. But that day, when the little red light on her BlackBerry flashed, things would change forever. Attached to the e-mail was a letter from CBA president Rod Snow. By the time she got to the third paragraph, she was in shock. "The CBA has dissolved the current CCCA board of directors. You and all members of the current board have been relieved of your duties," said the letter. "This means that you are no longer a member of the CCCA board and that you are not authorized to act or speak on behalf of CCCA. This is not a per- sonal reflection on any individual, but rather the most effective way for the CBA to move forward in serving its in-house counsel members." The letter said the dis- missal resulted from failed mediated negotiations between the two organizations over funding and direction for the CCCA. www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com M AY 2011 27 colin rowe