Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 5 23 After articling at McInnes Cooper and getting married, Bugden moved with her husband to Ontario. At the time, mobility regulations required lawyers to re-article. For Bugden, the window of opportunity for positions with private firms had closed by the time she arrived. Unexpectedly, the recent graduate was offered an in-house job with the TDL Group Ltd., the licensing company for Tim Hortons franchises. She got her call from the Law Society of Upper Canada, then Bugden found herself working in an environment that drew on her educational background in both commerce and law. It was an exciting time for a young lawyer, she says. "Ron Joyce had 100 per cent of business and was driving store openings, and the double drive- throughs were just starting." Bugden was drawn away from the business of coffee and doughnuts and headhunted for another in-house posi- tion, this time with Consumers Gas Co. Ltd., now Enbridge Gas Distribution. As a lawyer with Consumers, she moved back to the East Coast. The plan was to stay in-house, but plans changed. As Consumers Gas pulled out of its major project in Nova Scotia, Bugden found herself moving to private practice with the firm's external counsel. That firm was Stewart McKelvey. It was 1999, and Bugden spent the next 16 years taking a lead- ing role on energy projects from financing to land assembly to regulatory compliance. She provided advice to corporate clients in relation to M&A, financing, restructuring, and governance. She also worked with banking clients in relation to bilateral and syndicated credit facilities. At the same time, Bugden was working her way up the law firm's hierarchy. She served on the Halifax office's management committee for six years, completed a three-year term as a member of the firm's partnership board, and acted as department manager for the business department for a year. Since 2013, she has been the firm's regional managing partner in Nova Scotia. Now as CEO of one of the 20 largest law firms in Canada, Bugden gets to indulge her dual passions: law and business. She credits her in-house experience with offering up more leadership opportunities at an early age and an inside look at commerce in the raw. "It gave me a window into the day-to-day operations of a business," she says. Being a practising lawyer has also given her an advantage as CEO, Bugden believes. "Being in the trenches allows me to have a clear idea what our lawyers are facing." For Bugden, her job description as chief executive officer is easily summarized. "My job is to wake up every morning and think about Stewart McKelvey. Stewart McKelvey will be my cli- ent," she says. Like most law firms, Stewart McKelvey, with more than 200 lawyers in four provinces, is facing challenges on two fronts. Clients are demanding faster turnaround and more affordable services, and meeting those demands means working differently. "Technology will be our friend and our foe," says Bugden. The more efficient and effective the services a law firm can offer, the more business it can build — and growth is a driving force for Stewart McKelvey. It was 25 years ago that the firm became the first regional law firm in Atlantic Canada. Today, Stewart McKelvey considers and bills itself as a national firm based in Atlantic Canada. Geography is not being dismissed, however. "We have a unique connection to the region. We're proud of that, and our suc- cess has grown from that," says Bugden, who sees it as her per- sonal goal to grow the profile of the firm in Atlantic Canada and beyond. "We have to be open to opportunities [here], but we need to look beyond our region as well." Just as the landscape for her firm is changing, so is the legal landscape for female lawyers across Canada. Bugden does not believe she will be the lone female CEO for long. "I think we'll see a shift in the next generation," she says. Such a shift requires looking at law firm management through a new lens. Bugden believes her career path, unique though it is, mirrors the mindfulness and the minefield that others must navigate. Like many women in the profession, she says, you work hard to get where you are, to progress from LLB to partner. Now, the final frontier: Do you leave practice for management? "Many people see law firm management as a sidestep," says Bugden. "I don't." MY JOB IS TO WAKE UP EVERY MORNING AND THINK ABOUT STEWART MCKELVEY. STEWART MCKELVEY WILL BE MY CLIENT. A fresh voice in professional publishing. www.emond.ca orders@emond.ca 1-888-837-0815 Proudly introducing a new series of legal practice titles Untitled-1 1 2015-08-19 10:41 AM

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