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the projects she's worked on include the $408 million Sault Area Hospital in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and the $292 million Ontario Highway Service Centres. She's worked on a number of other hospital deals in Ontario and B.C., and has led the legal analysis behind major bids. Though she wasn't a transaction- al lawyer before she joined EllisDon, Becker started doing deals right away and had to learn on the fly. "It's a com- pany that says it's entrepreneurial and it really is, so the fact that I was a litigator didn't matter — I can litigate today and do project management tomorrow," she says. "I won't say it wasn't a challenge try- ing to learn the aspects of project finance when I got here — I had a few nights where I went home moaning to my hus- band about how I was never going to learn how to do this — but I'm a sink-or- swim type of person, so the challenge of learning it was pretty fun, too." Becker went from being a litigation lawyer to a jack-of-all-trades, learning everything from mergers and acquisi- tions to trademark law along the way — and more about insurance than she ever wanted to know. Only one thing is really certain about her job: she never knows what she's going to get on her plate the next day. One day she's helping to close a billion-dollar bond deal and the next she's working on a small merger-and- acquisition transaction. "I think secretly lawyers want to be business people, so I get to sneak into that side of things a little bit more every day and be part of strategy — putting together the strategic partners for a bid or working on the upfront side of some of these projects," says Becker. "That's prob- ably the most rewarding part for me, as opposed to being a cleanup person on the litigation side." The most rewarding parts, however, can also be the most challenging, since it's a constant learning process that requires putting in plenty of extra hours. "A lot of people come into in-house jobs thinking that it's more of a lifestyle choice than being external, but that's certainly not the case here. I work way more hours than I ever did in private practice, but I'm also enjoying it tremendously," she says. "It's a bit of a give and take — I'm not sure my family is entirely appreciative of it all the time," laughs Becker, who is the mother of two boys, aged seven and five. As part of this entrepreneurial spirit, one of her objectives at EllisDon was to hire a legal team with diverse backgrounds — not just construction backgrounds — to cover off more areas in-house. "We've got some strong relationships with our external firms, but the nature of our busi- ness is one of competitiveness and there really is a focus on keeping costs as low as possible, so there is a strong desire to do as much in-house as we can," she says. Though she's working more hours than she did in private practice, Becker recently started an organization with Yonni Fushman, division general coun- sel and director, risk management with Aecon Group Inc., and Michelle Kidd, assistant general counsel of exp, with LET EXPERT GUIDANCE HELP YOU ANALYZE FEDERAL LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LAW THE 2011 ANNOTATED CANADA LABOUR CODE RONALD M. SNYDER Stay up to date with legal developments applicable to Federal union and non-union employees with The 2011 Annotated Canada Labour Code. You'll gain a better understanding of the Canada Labour Code and jurisprudence with an extensive collection of case law annotations and the expert analysis of a leading lawyer to guide you. THIS PORTABLE TEXT IS A COMPREHENSIVE, CLEARLY ORGANIZED REFERENCE THAT GIVES YOU ACCESS TO: • The Canada Labour Code, its regulations and all other relevant legislation enacted pursuant to the Code • An extensive collection of case law annotations provides in-depth commentary and analysis on the case and how it relates to a particular section of the Code • The most recent pronouncements governing the practices and procedures of the Canada Industrial Relations Board as defined in the Regulations • The latest interpretations on health and safety laws governing federal undertakings, and the requirements which are necessary to invoke a refusal to work for dangerous reasons AVAILABLE RISK FREE FOR 30 DAYS In Toronto: 416-609-3800 Order online at www.carswell.com Call Toll-Free: 1-800-387-5164 36 • OCTOBER 2011 Untitled-6 1 INHOUSE 8/25/11 12:42:59 PM ORDER # 982695-64232 $128 Softcover approx. 1580 pages December 2010 978-0-7798-2695-7 Shipping and handling are extra. Price subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes.