Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50894
COVERSTORY "Once an employee becomes an ex-employee, you've got to ensure that under no circumstances — unless they're a very trusted person, but you never know — they have access to information. They've got to be cut off." — EARL CHERNIAK, LERNERS LLP Presented by Laptops, BlackBerrys, memory stick devices that hold volumes of data are tot- ed along by executives to far-flung reach- es of the world. "I'll do specific briefings for [executives], when they travel, about some of the risks, and corporate espio- nage is certainly part of that, because when you travel internationally there are things that come up," says Reierson, who has experience working in South America and Russia, where, he says, even the government will place listening de- vices in hotel rooms to monitor business transactions. "We take a very much proactive ap- proach," he says. With the proliferation of electronic information coupled with a highly com- petitive global economy, opportunities for the theft of data are rife. Oftentimes a breach is difficult to detect and easier to execute. Multinational giants such as Coca- Cola, Wal-Mart, and Dell have fallen victim to corporate espionage, resulting in protracted and much publicized litiga- tion. Here at home, notable cases include a lawsuit by Air Canada against WestJet Airlines Ltd. and an action launched by Murphy Oil Company Ltd. against a small U.S.-based contractor that sudden- ly began purchasing land in the vicinity of a significant oil and gas reserve. Corporate Canada is thus taking note at where corporate intelligence-gathering crosses into to the realm of espionage. Earl Cherniak, a partner at Lerners LLP, represented Air Canada in its suit against WestJet. Speaking in general terms about the topic, he affirms there should be no grey area between corporate intelligence- gathering to glean an edge in the market and outright espionage. "It's not a fuzzy line. There's what's legal and what's not legal," he says. "To get an employee to pass along the secret recipe for Coke, that's not market research." Yet employees of all rank and file are Upcoming Conferences CONTAMINATED SITES June 12 – 13, 2008 | Calgary RISK MANAGEMENT COURSE FOR CREDIT UNIONS June 16 – 17, 2008 | Vancouver ABORIGINAL BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP June 16 – 17, 2008 | Toronto CANADIAN AIRLINE INVESTMENT June 19 – 20, 2008 | Toronto EHEALTH AND MEDICAL RECORDS June 23 – 24, 2008 | Halifax ENROLL TODAY! 1 888 777-1707 | www.insightinfo.com 12 JUNE 2008 C ANADIAN Lawyer INHOUSE Untitled-6 1 EXECUTIVE ASSISTANTS August 14 – 15, 2008 | Toronto IP SUMMIT September 8 – 9, 2008 | Vancouver DUTY TO ACCOMMODATE September 15 – 16, 2008 | Halifax REGULATORY COMPLIANCE September 18 – 19, 2008 | Toronto E DISCOVERY September 22 – 23, 2008 | Halifax PRODUCT RECALL September 25 – 26, 2008 | Toronto Media Partner 4/24/08 2:59:48 PM