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"THE CCCA'S PRIMARY FUNCTION IS TO ADVANCE THE INTERESTS OF [AND] SERVE THE IN-HOUSE BAR. AND WE NEEDED TO MOVE BEYOND WHERE WE WERE IN THE DISCUSSION THAT HAD CONSUMED FAR TOO MUCH TIME, FAR TOO MUCH ENERGY FOR EVERYBODY INVOLVED." FRED HEADON, CBA SECOND VICE PRESIDENT & CCCA BOARD MEMBER any wrongdoing. To say that we think we can do it, it's no justification for why they did do it." A recent CCCA Toronto chapter meeting raised more questions than it answered, adds Schatz. She felt there was confusion among the membership about the changes, and direct questions were not being answered forthrightly by the CBA. It might lead people to look to alterna- tive organizations like the Association of Corporate Counsel, she adds. "I really think what the CBA has done has alien- ated the corporate counsel bar by taking this action. And they have made the ACC that much more attractive to in-house counsel. So it struck me as an extreme- ly short-sighted measure," she says. "It's basically the CBA demonstrating that it doesn't respect the independence of the corporate counsel community." AN OPENING FOR THE ACC? members. A Washington, D.C.,-based organization with global ambitions, the ACC is vying hard to make inroads with Canada's in-house counsel com- munity. It has two chapters in Canada — in Ontario and Quebec — and is pre- paring to launch more in Alberta and British Columbia. It also plans to open a permanent Canadian office to deal with what appears to be an aggressive expansion plan in this country. At the end of March, the ACC sent A 4,200 non-member Canadian in-house counsel a letter, urging them to join the organization. "We appreciate in-house counsel these days can belong to multiple industry groups, and we believe ACC should be top of that list," wrote those signing the letter, which include some of Canada's most powerful general coun- sel. ACC board members David Allgood of Royal Bank of Canada and Martine Turcotte of Bell Canada are joined by 20 other senior chief legal officers or general counsel representing companies in Halifax, Ottawa, Montreal, Regina, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver. They include counsel like Daniel Desjardins of Bombardier Inc. and Simon Fish of BMO Financial Group. The letter promises the ACC will pro- s Schatz points out, if confusion continues at the CCCA, the ACC might be the choice for former vide expanding Canadian services, pro- fessional development programs designed by Canadian in-house counsel, and more Canadian advocacy initiatives. At $295 per year, membership in the ACC costs less than half of membership in the CBA- CCCA, and the organization is solely ded- icated to in-house counsel, which means that unlike the CBA-CCCA, it does not allow private firm lawyers to become members. In the past, it has also offered some robust programming in large cen- tres like Toronto and Montreal, with spo- radic events in other parts of Canada. Even though the ACC is often not perceived as being as Canadian as the CBA-CCCA, it is making clear inroads in that direction as its Canadian chapters are run by local in-house counsel who know what is needed on the ground. Quebec serves as a good example of how the ACC has adapted to a Canadian member- ship. Antonietta Marro, president of the ACC chapter in Quebec, says there has been an expansion of the programming in that province, for example, offering both French and English events. She says a cou- ple of recent events done in association with the Barreau du Québec were particu- larly successful. And interest in the ACC in Quebec keeps increasing, she adds. But are they going to get more mem- bers as a result of the fallout from the CBA-CCCA dust-up? Marro says the increase in membership and participa- tion at ACC events is related to the good work the local chapters are doing, and not necessarily to the CBA-CCCA conflict. "It doesn't hurt," she says. "But ACC has been receiving a lot of interest primarily due to the work it has put forward in its programs." Sanjeev Dhawan, president of ACC's Ontario chapter, the first chapter estab- lished in Canada, looks at it in similar terms. "For several years, we've been ask- ing people to take a look at us," Dhawan says. "This might allow them to focus in on us and some of our offerings." The ACC has had Canadian members since 1987. By 1999, it had more than 60 in Canada, and now that number is more than 800, according to ACC's head office. When faced with the ACC threat, the CBA-CCCA points out that the depth, scope of programming, and geographic distribution — together with the bilin- gual cultural sensibilities — needed for Canadian in-house counsel can be best served by its chapters. Patzelt says the CCCA is the dominant choice for in- house counsel in Canada. "We set the agenda. We know what's relevant to in- house counsel in Canada and advocate on behalf of them," he says. "We under- stand the different regions of Canada, and are willing to serve them too." But beyond the ACC-CCCA dynam- ics, there might also be a third group of people that looks at the situation and decides to pull back from any organiza- tion serving in-house counsel, warns Foy. "Media is citing this as a battle between the CCCA and the ACC. I think what's missing from that perspec- tive is a third group of people who are disaffected and that may go to neither place." www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com M AY 2011 33