Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50893
INHOUSE Group Publisher: Karen Lorimer Associate Publisher: Gail J. Cohen Editor: Kirsten McMahon Associate Editor: Helen Burnett Copy Editor: Matthew LaForge Creative Director: Einar Rice Art Director: Janet Popadiuk Account Co-ordinator: Mary Hatch Publications Mail Agreement #40766500 ISSN 0703-2129 Copyright © 2008 G.S.T. Registration #R121349799 RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESS TO: CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 240 EDWARD ST., AURORA, ON L4G 3S9 RETOURNER TOUTE CORRESPONDANCE NE POUVANT ÊTRE LIVRÉE AU CANADA AU SERVICE DES PUBLICATIONS 240 EDWARD ST., AURORA, ON L4G 3S9 Advertising Sales Representatives Legal Suppliers: Kimberlee Pascoe Tel: (905) 713-4342 E-mail: kpascoe@clbmedia.ca Law Firms: Karen Lorimer Tel: (905) 713-4339 E-mail: klorimer@clbmedia.ca Sarah Abbot Tel: (905) 713-4340 E-mail: sabbot@clbmedia.ca Sales Co-ordinator: Sandy Shutt Tel: (905) 713-4337 E-mail: sshutt@clbmedia.ca Canadian Lawyer President: Stuart J. Morrison Canadian Lawyer INHOUSE is published six times a year by Canadian Lawyer Magazine Inc., 240 Edward St., Aurora, Ont. L4G 3S9 (905) 841-6480 Fax: (905) 727-0017. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reprinted without written permission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information presented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Canadian Lawyer INHOUSE disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness, or currency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reliance upon information in this publication. 240 Edward St., Aurora, ON L4G 3S9 Phone: (905) 841-6480 Fax: (905) 727-0017 E-mail: canlawmag@clbmedia.ca Web: www.canadianlawyermag.com A time to reflect EDITOR'S BOX media baron Conrad Black fall. I won't bother rehashing the typical year- end lists of the media outlets but what I do think is worth noting are some of 2007's bigger stories that had direct impact on in-house counsel. Regular readers may notice that we have moved our annual Canadian Cor- I porate Counsel Newsmaker of the Year article (see page 14) to February to allow for a full calendar year of candidates to choose from. Not surprisingly, it wasn't hard to pick this year's winner. We invited readers to enter their top choice for newsmaker and a committee of judges had the easy task of naming David L. McAusland, of Alcan Inc., as this year's victor. London, England-based mining giant Rio Tinto's $38.1-billion cash take- over of Montreal-based Alcan Inc. was huge business news. The merger cre- ated the world's largest aluminium producer and also thwarted a hostile bid by Alcan's U.S. rival Alcoa Inc. In essence, being the GC in the middle of a deal like that is a career pinnacle. While interviewing McAusland for the cover story, I found him to be proud of the strategic work he's done throughout his years with Alcan — I mean, three days after he started at Alcan he was thrust into a three-jurisdiction international merger — but never once did he come across as arrogant. He calls the Rio deal just one of the highlights during his time with the company, but says it's time to move on to the next challenge. One thing he wanted to make clear is that the key to his success at Alcan was the flexibility he had to stretch and redefine the role of general counsel — to go further than the traditional role of a lawyer in a company. As a long- time former corporate lawyer and managing partner, McAusland strives to show people that working in-house is increasingly a place with greater — not lesser — opportunities than private practice. Another 2007 newsmaker was social networking sites — Facebook, in par- ticular — which seemed to be the media darlings of 2007 for a multitude of reasons: cyber bullying and stalking; employees wasting work time on the site; and, of course, the $240 million Microsoft paid for a miniscule stake of Facebook, which is valued at $15 billion. Okay, I admit I'm an avid Facebooker (it's strictly for networking, I swear). But a quick search of a handful of company names, especially those provid- ing goods and services, brings up a wealth of Facebook groups, mostly by the titles of "boycott company XYZ" or "disgruntled former employees of company XYZ." These groups often contain libellous statements and sensitive information. So how do you keep on top of this? This issue's Business Case (see page 42) details the many ways in-house counsel can track down and deal with yber- smears. The article also notes that, as my mom always used to say, sometimes the best defence is simply to ignore the nasty comments. It's an interesting read for luddites and techies alike. IH C ANADIAN Lawyer INHOUSE FEBRU AR Y 2008 5 By Kirsten McMahon realize that January is usually the time for reflection and reminiscing, but seeing as InHouse's first issue of the year publishes in the month of February, please indulge me in a walk down memory lane. The prior year was a whirlwind of activity in the business sector in Canada. Last year, we saw our loonie soar past US$1, and we saw