Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
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60-SECOND SNAPSHOT owned by Toronto-based Globalive Communications Corp. and backed in part by Egyptian wireless car- rier Orascom Telecom, did not meet Canadian ownership and control rules. Then, in December, the federal cabinet overturned the CRTC ruling — allow- ing WIND Mobile to launch as Canada's fourth national wireless carrier. Wood says managing stress levels during that period was a challenge as was staying optimistic, particularly after the com- pany received a negative decision from the CRTC. While the business was able to over- come that challenge, there are more ahead. The incumbent mobile carriers are well financed and dominate the mar- ket. "We do sometimes feel we're David fighting Goliath, and that impacts my role in a number of different ways," says Wood. "We're very aware of the fact the incumbents have been fighting each other in court over the content of their ads, so we're careful that we're not vul- nerable through our messaging in our advertisements." But she sees more opportunity in building the business than fighting the incumbents. WIND has launched its ser- vice in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton, and most recently on June 3 in Vancouver. And that means Wood and her legal team — which includes two lawyers — have to navigate a vast array of commercial agreements as they build the business. Every new city means new stores and new sites for antennas, and the com- mercial agreements that underlie those sites are typically leases, so there's a ton of real estate work — literally hundreds of leases. They also deal with distribution agreements with retail partners and deal- ers, as well as various interconnection agreements with other carriers. With lease work, they're trying to do as much as they can in-house, but they rely on outside counsel for other areas such as corporate finance. As part of its business model, WIND also uses social networking — and there are legal risks associated with its use, particularly when it comes to privacy legislation. "We don't think we have any particular exposure to privacy issues because we're not a Facebook, we're not gathering data about individuals, people aren't posting photos to our site," says Wood. "We also don't use third-party developers." But there's reputational risk because it doesn't moderate its web site around the clock, so people can post whatever content they want. "Sometimes they say mean things about us, and we allow the debate to happen. We think it's important to acknowledge all points of view, but it's a bit risky." Wood earned an arts degree at the University of Toronto's Trinity College. She was accepted into Osgoode Hall Law School and articled at Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP, where she had a cri- sis of consciousness about whether she wanted to work at a big firm or even practise law. So she decided to go to the London School of Economics and Political Science and do a master of laws. While in London, England, she had to pay the bills, which led her to write for the International Financial Law Review on various Canadian topics — where she discovered she had an interest in financial services. After returning to Toronto, she took a job with Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP in the financial services group where she practised for four and a half years. One day, Wood got a call from a friend who asked if she knew any entertainment lawyers. She didn't, but it piqued her curiosity, which led to 16 years at what eventually became Alliance Atlantis. At the time, it was a private company called Alliance and Wood started out as the junior lawyer in a three-person depart- ment who did everything from photo- copy releases to employment contracts. As time passed, the company grew, and she moved up. At one point she wound up running the legal department for the feature film business, then took on the legal department for the broadcast business. When all of the legal depart- ments were eventually consolidated, THE LAWYER: Andrea Wood THE COMPANY: WIND Mobile Wood was educated at the University of Toronto (BA, history), Osgoode Hall Law School (LLB), and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LLM, commercial law). She was called to the bar in 1988. A career that started out in finan- cial services turned into 16 years at Alliance Atlantis and her current role at WIND Mobile, Canada's fourth wire- less carrier. Wood sits on the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association's board. The association is the authority on wireless issues, developments, and trends in Canada. She volunteers with Sunnybrook Foundation, which supports research, education, and equipment initiatives for the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre through active fundraising. she became general counsel of Alliance Atlantis. When she joined, it was a pri- vate company with a couple of TV series. By the time she left, it was a public com- pany that had been sold for $2.3 billion to Canwest Global Communications Corp. and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners. When Alliance Atlantis was sold, her job ended, so she promised herself she'd take a year off to hang out with her kids and think about her next steps. After about four months, however, she started getting contract legal work and before long realized she was working full time without having decided to work full time. So she took a job at Bennett Jones LLP where she started to build an entertainment practice. That's when WIND came calling. Her current role at WIND is "all-consuming" with a steep learning curve, but this is what makes it worth it. "It's rewarding to feel as though I'm doing something that makes a differ- ence," says Wood. "I believe in what we're doing. I believe the country needs more competition in the telecom sector." IH INHOUSE AUGUST 2010 • 45