Canadian Lawyer InHouse

Aug/Sep 2010

Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives

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CLOSING • A roundup of legal department news and trends Shalhoub, Allgood honoured at Canadian General Counsel Awards Lorraine Shalhoub, vice presi- dent and general counsel of Chrysler Canada Inc., won the Canadian General Counsel of the Year award, presented on May 31 by The National Post and ZSA Legal Recruitment at the Canadian General Counsel Awards dinner in Toronto. David Allgood, execu- tive vice president and general counsel at the Royal Bank of Canada, received the CGCA life- time achievement award. A scholarship will be established in Shalhoub's name at a Canadian law school of her choice. The other winners were in the following categories: for business achievement, Anne Giardini, presi- dent of Weyerhaeuser Co. Ltd.; for deal making, Scott (Rusty) Miller, Flexible hours key to keeping women in private practice The Law Society of Upper Canada says a new study examining changes in lawyer status proves it's on the right track with its Justicia and Retention of Women in Private Practice projects. According to the study, men and women left private practice for many of the same reasons. The only significant difference was among those who cited work-life balance as a major factor in the switch. Just nine per cent of men chose reasons such as flexible scheduling, reducing stress, and spending more time with family, compared with 21 per cent of women. There are 57 firms taking part in the Justicia project, which is identifying ways of keeping women in private practice. The study indicated women were much more likely to leave private practice than men and identified two key points in their careers when the difference was particularly pronounced: during their first 10 years in the field and when they have young dependent children. The number of women in private practice dropped to 32 per cent after a change in status from 47 per cent before a change. For men, a similar, less dra- matic pattern emerged, with 54 per cent in private practice before the change and decreasing to 46 per cent after. The numbers of men and women in private practice show a sharp drop among those with young children. For men, 56 per cent were in private practice before the change, a number that fell to 44 per cent after. For women, the drop is twice as large, falling 25 percentage points to 32 per cent after the change from 57 per cent before. former vice president and general counsel at Petro- Canada (now Suncor Energy Inc.); for litigation management, Ildiko Mehes, general counsel at Teva Canada Ltd.; for mid-market excel- lence, William Chyfetz, vice presi- dent and general counsel at IESI- BFC Ltd.; and in the tomorrow's leader category, Doug Nathanson, vice president and associate gen- eral counsel at Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd. The CGCA advisory board evaluated candidates on the basis of "excellence, the ability to deal with complexity across both issues and jurisdictions, and an irrefutable sure-handedness in dealing with whatever challenges are faced." In choosing one person to be honoured above all others, the board looks most carefully at the role the candidates played in their company's overall health and well- being. 46 • AUGUST 2010 EU opinion erodes privilege for in-house counsel Communication between companies and their in-house lawyers does not have the same solicitor-client privilege in European Union competition cases as communication between companies and outside counsel, according to a recent opinion in Akzo Nobel Chemicals Ltd. and Akcros Chemicals Ltd. v. European Commission. Advocate General Juliane Kokott's opinion faces approval at the European Court of Justice later this year. The advocate general's opinion is not binding on the court; but it is very influential and fol- lowed in the majority of cases. The judges of the court are now deliberating the Akzo case. Due to the international nature of most EU competition cases and the fact that it is common for Canadian companies to work with EU-based counsel and vice versa, if the opinion becomes a ruling, it would leave Canadian companies and their in-house counsel in Europe in jeopardy, says Randy Hughes, a partner and head of the competi- tion group at McCarthy Tétrault LLP. The European court is expected to make a final decision on the case later this year, but in light of previous decisions and practices, the judges usually follow the opinion of the advocate general assigned to the case, says Adam Fanaki, a partner at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg LLP in Toronto. Unlike the EU, courts in Canada have consistently afforded privilege protection to both in-house and private-practice lawyers. For weekly INHOUSE news and updates go to: www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse INHOUSE

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