Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
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INDUSTRY SPOTLIGHT an issue that you've never come across, while it's ob- viously exciting because you have an opportunity to learn and grow, it can also be daunting." Surprisingly, the com- panies' legal staff are relatively small, ranging from 10 lawyers at GM to a single lawyer at Nis- san or Chrysler. That said, the lawyers are themselves only a part of a larger staff often consisting of parale- gals, tax staff, and support personnel, etc. Despite the small size of the compa- economy standard is put in place that's harmonized with what's coming forth from the U.S. federal gov- ernment. "I think it's fair to say that NEIL MACDONALD nies' legal staff, most of their legal work is still done in-house. The main exception to this is litigation work, which (a) sim- ply requires too many man-hours for a small staff to handle, and (b) is national in scope. The bulk of the companies' liti- gation work is farmed out to various law fi rms in different provinces. Another big challenge — at compa- nies where it falls within the purview of general counsel, as with GM, Ford, and Chrysler — is government relations. "You have to be constantly watching the current environment and constantly watching what's out there," says Shal- houb, "and constantly looking at what it is you're doing and why you're doing that within that context or framework, and somehow trying to predict where this might go in the future, or where things might have to go." "It's a North American industry, and when you have provinces or states that respected valued advice, and the ability to make a good living — and then you get to drive some fun cars, too." — NEIL MACDONALD, GENERAL MOTORS OF CANADA LTD. are enacting legislation, a hodgepodge of legislation, it's very diffi cult for compa- nies to operate in those environments," says Macdonald. Stewart mentions, for example, that the industry is currently working with the federal and provincial governments to try and ensure that a national fuel- "Good work, give sometimes the automotive sector can be caught off guard by whatever regu- lations or programs the government puts in place," says Van Damme, perhaps obliquely referring to last year's ecoAUTO rebate pro- gram, which controversially provided up to $2,000 in re- bates to people who purchased the most fuel-effi cient vehicles. "The challenge is when you think about the amount of time and effort to develop a vehicle, versus the amount of time and effort to develop a regulation, they don't always relate," he says. "So you can design and develop a ve- hicle only to fi nd out, after the vehicle's already been developed and designed, about new environmental regulatory laws that are coming into place, and of course you have to react to that." The impressive longevity of general counsel in the sector begs the question: what has kept them there? What has kept Macdonald with GM for 24 years, Stew- art's with Ford for 19 (28 in the indus- try), Shalhoub with Chrysler for 11? "I think most people would think it's pretty neat to work for a car company," says Shalhoub. "And I'd have to agree. You get a real opportunity to see the various facets of the business, which is fascinating." HOW WILL THE BEST LAWYERS FIND YOU? RainMaker Group 110 Yonge Street, Suite 1101 Toronto, Ontario M5C 1T4 Tel: 416-863-9543 Fax: 416-863-9757 www.rainmakergroup.ca 40 A UGUST 2008 C ANADIAN Lawyer INHOUSE Untitled-1 1 6/23/08 10:13:37 AM