Canadian Lawyer InHouse

3 CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE MARCH 2016 www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse Director/Group Publisher: Karen Lorimer karen.lorimer@thomsonreuters.com Editor in Chief: Gail J. Cohen gail.cohen@thomsonreuters.com Editor: Jennifer Brown jen.brown@thomsonreuters.com Staff Writer: Yamri Taddese yamri.taddese@thomsonreuters.com Copy Editor: Patricia Cancilla Art Director: Steve Maver Account Co-ordinator: Sharlane Burgess Advertising Sales Representatives Joseph Galea E-mail: joseph.galea@thomsonreuters.com Steffanie Munroe Tel: (416) 315-5879 E-mail: steffanie.munroe@thomsonreuters.com Kimberlee Pascoe Tel: (416) 649-8875 E-mail: kimberlee.pascoe@thomsonreuters.com Grace So Tel: (416) 609-5838 E-mail: grace.so@thomsonreuters.com Canadian Lawyer InHouse is published 6 times a year by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd., One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto ON. M1T 3V4 (416) 298-5141. Fax : 416-649-7870 Web: www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse LinkedIn: www.goo.gl/9tytr Twitter: @CLInHouse Editorial advisory board: Sanjeev Dhawan, Hydro One Networks Inc.; Jonathan Lau, Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario; Fernando Garcia, Nissan Canada; Joe Bradford, Bradford Professional Corp; Dorothy Quann, Xerox Canada. 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. Publications Mail Agreement #40766500 ISSN 1921-9563 Copyright © 2016 H.S.T. Registration #R121349799 To subscribe or change addresses Call (416) 649-9585 Fax (416) 649-7870 or e-mail Keith Fulford at keith.fulford@thomsonreuters.com RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESS TO: CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto ON. M1T 3V4 By Jennifer Brown Editor's Box SEND YOUR news AND story ideas TO jen.brown@thomsonreuters.com Indexed in the Canadian Periodical Index In-house marketing I often think in-house legal departments suffer from a lack of brand awareness. Do the people they serve really know who they are and what they do day-to-day? More importantly, do the business people they are supposed to be helping really know how legal operates and what they could be doing to help each other? You will often hear in-house lawyers say they wish they could be more proactive and be seen as adding value to an organization versus being viewed as fi refi ghters or naysay- ers — and many do, but does everyone in the organization they serve understand how it works when you need access to legal services? I would suggest not many legal departments know how to market themselves. Let's just say there's probably a lot to be desired from a branding perspective. That's why when I recently went looking for contact details for McMaster University's cor- porate counsel Brent Davis, I was impressed by the public-facing (not an intranet) web page I discovered for the university's Offi ce of Legal Services. It is one continuous scrolling and well laid-out page that starts by explaining the mandate of the offi ce of legal, who it sees as its clients, and a couple of paragraphs outlining its objectives. Davis says he created it to make it easier on the community to fi gure out how they could get less complex matters solved quickly. Seven common agreements are posted for easy download from the web page. They range from a consent waiver for photography and video to a speaker contract and participant waivers (both short- and long-form versions). There is also a policy posted to explain the co-ordination of legal services to the university including the role and responsibilities of the offi ce of legal services, the process for retention of external counsel for university legal matters, and the administrative and fi nancial oversight of external counsel. Da- vis says his goal is to grow the list of commonly used documents. He has also posted a key per- formance indicator scorecard for the Offi ce of Legal Services. It demonstrates the department welcomes and seeks feedback — client satisfaction is also measured annually by way of a survey. Other legal departments are also waking up to the fact they need to market themselves better. Last year, one of the InHouse Innovatio winners in the law department management category won for work it did as part of a "people and culture" initiative. Interac Association's legal depart- ment sought feedback as to its perception in the organization. Its work received high marks but there was a feeling it sometimes took a long time to turn things around and was seen as failing to look at the big picture. The legal department decided to educate the various business units about what, exactly, legal compliance and regulatory supports, about the value legal brings, and to improve and measure the legal division's productivity. It held an open house to provide its "clients" a chance to get to know legal better and understand what it does. Interac also revamped its presence on the company's internal web site, posting answers to frequently asked questions and explanations for "what if" scenarios such as, "What if I haven't signed a confi dentiality agreement?" Following the open house, lawyers at Interac said relationships with the business units im- proved. One of the lawyers told me the bottom line was ". . . they have a better appreciation of what we do and why we do it." Don't assume your clients know what you do and don't assume they believe you are bringing value. Tell them.

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