Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50882
a legal outsourcing firm headquartered in Toronto, has trod the well-worn path from the legal department to the execu- tive suite. Before being appointed to the helm of LexLocom in 2010, Ewart served as chief legal officer at Molson Coors Brewing Co., general counsel at Allstream (formerly AT&T Canada), vice president and general counsel at Coca-Cola Canada, and senior secur- ities counsel at Nortel Networks. According to Ewart, companies tend to appoint lawyers as CEOs in the following three scenarios: first, companies that are in bankruptcy protection and are under- going restructuring or disposing of major assets; second, heavily regulated industries and sectors; and third, companies that are making major acquisitions. Calin Rovinescu, who was appointed CEO of Air Canada in April 2009, proved that he had the ability to lead in tough times, when he orchestrated the beleaguered airline's turnaround as Air Canada's chief restructuring officer during the airline's 2003-04 restructuring under the Companies' Creditors Arrangement Act. Rovinescu was formerly the manag- ing partner of Stikeman Elliott LLP in Montreal, where he practised law for over 20 years in the areas of corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions. In October 2008, Anne Giardini was named CEO of the lumber behemoth Weyerhaeuser Co.'s Canadian subsidiary. The forestry sector is heavily regulated. Giardini's legal background — she served in Weyerhaeuser's legal department since 1994, rising to vice president and general counsel in 2006 — was surely a factor in her appointment as CEO. Donald Schroeder was made CEO of Tim Hortons in March 2008. Schroeder had served as general counsel for the doughnut and coffee chain in 2006, when the company was being spun off from Wendy's. Spearheading the separation of the two chains allowed Schroeder's legal skills to shine. Sometimes the board of directors may turn to the general counsel when it is faced with succession problems and wants someone to take the reigns INHOUSE JUNE 2011 • ntitled-2 1 21 5/3/11 3:12:41 PM of the company on an interim basis. Such was the case with Mark Fletcher, who had served as vice president and general counsel for Toronto-based Generex Biotechnology Corp., until he was tapped to serve as interim CEO after the company let go former CEO Anna Gluskin in September 2010. "I was in the right place, at the right time," Fletcher says to explain his appoint- ment as CEO. Perhaps he is being too modest. Fletcher performed so capably as interim CEO that the board of direc- tors of Generex recently appointed him the permanent CEO in March 2011. Fletcher's history with Generex dates