Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50875
law group employs the following analyt- ical framework: First, they analyze the nature of the work, expertise required, risk involved, level or experience and availability of internal resources to match the expertise and expense of legal resources to the risk and complex- ity of the matter. Second, they ask if internal counsel have special expertise related to the matter. Third, they ask if it is likely that in-house counsel can resolve the matter quickly. Finally, they ask if by doing the work internally, the RBC law group can acquire valuable knowledge and experience that it can reuse for the client's benefit. When RBC decides to send legal work to outside providers they select from a designated list of preferred pro- viders for each area of law. In compiling the list, the in-house department at RBC considers the nature of work, expertise required, risk involved, level or expe- rience required, and the rates of the providers. At the beginning of each file, RBC's in-house counsel discusses staff- ing with the law firm or individual law- yer selected to ensure that the proposed staffing is appropriate to the issues and risks identified. The team then enforces quotes to obtain cost certainty, avoid overruns and control and more effec- tively manage legal costs by ensuring financial accountability. TransCanada Corp.'s legal depart- ment has also strived to bring legal work in-house. "We like to bring virtu- ally any work we can in-house," says Sean McMaster, executive vice president and general counsel at TransCanada. Based in Calgary, TransCanada is the largest natural gas pipeline company in North America. With almost 60,000 kilometres of pipelines — enough to cross Canada more than a dozen times — TransCanada transports 20 per cent of the natural gas consumed in North America. With 4,200 employees in Canada and the U.S., TransCanada has a relatively large legal department with about 70 lawyers in-house. The legal department is divided into four groups: pipeline and regulatory law; energy and operations; M&A and financing; and corporate/ commercial law. Over the past 15 years, the company has grown rapidly through acquisitions. "We can do almost any deal in-house," McMaster says. "We always need some external support, but we can do big chunks of major transactions in-house." TransCanada's legal depart- ment includes litigation counsel, but McMaster says the company typically refers most litigation files externally. He adds the company is not very litigious and is rarely being sued or suing others. In addition, TransCanada uses external counsel for speciality matters, such as tax planning, major regulatory hear- ings, and really big deals. "We don't staff for the peak," WE CAN HANDLE ANY PITCH. LITIGATIONBOUTIQUE.COM WOODS LLP LITIGATION . ARBITRATION . CLASS ACTION 2000 McGILL COLLEGE AVE. SUITE 1700 MONTREAL, QUEBEC H3A 3H3 T. 514-982-4545 34 • AUGUST 2011 Untitled-2 1 INHOUSE 6/17/11 12:21:22 PM