Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50889
associate counsel at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, who articled at Vancouver's Bull Housser & Tupper in 1985-86 with Giardini. "I have the utmost respect for her as a lawyer, wife, and mother. She worked her way up through Weyerhaeuser and she's still married to her first husband with three great kids, and she is a true friend." Anna Fung, legal counsel at Intrawest, concurs. "I first met Anne when we were both admitted to UBC law school in 1981 and even back then she aspired to greater things," says Fung. "She is always on a quest for the next achieve- ment." Some would say Giardini is a super-achiever, but she still takes time to smell the roses. Fung points out that Giardini has balanced her life to take that time. "I remember Anne lamenting to me when she first started dating her hus- band Tony that she couldn't see herself in a long-term relationship with someone who loved hockey and who didn't care all that much for the arts," says Fung. "Now, she attends her children's hockey games and cheers them on from the stands while she is busily working away on her laptop on her latest novel or closing a deal. When she realized that Tony was going to be 'the one,' she took up Italian so that she could converse with his family." Giardini doesn't see herself as a super-achiever. "I can't carry a note, I'm a mediocre cook at best, and I can't do anything that involves manual dexterity except type," she says, "and my husband would be quick to point out that I can't do anything around the house needing a screwdriver." Giardini's Italian helped her write her second non-fiction novel, Advice for Italian Boys. "I used old proverbs from my mother-in-law that were in danger of getting lost," she says. Her first book, The Sad Truth About Happiness, was naturally about happiness and unhap- piness; the new book is about advice, and her next book will be about death. Giardini finished the second book about a year ago and started the third right away. "Why wait?" she asks. How on earth does she find the time to write? "The children are all teens so they don't 32 • APRIL 2009 Untitled-1 1 INHOUSE 3/16/09 9:10:36 AM