Canadian Lawyer InHouse

INHOUSE EDITOR'S BOX By Jennifer Brown www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse Group Publisher: Karen Lorimer karen.lorimer@thomsonreuters.com Editorial Director: Gail J. Cohen gail.cohen@thomsonreuters.com Editor: Jennifer Brown jen.brown@thomsonreuters.com Staff Writer: Michael McKiernan michael.mckiernan@thomsonreuters.com Copy Editor: Katia Caporiccio Art Director: Bill Hunter Account Co-ordinator: Catherine Giles Advertising Sales Representatives Legal Suppliers: Kimberlee Pascoe Tel: (416) 649-8875 E-mail: kimberlee.pascoe@thomsonreuters.com Law Firms: Karen Lorimer Tel: (416) 649-9411 E-mail: karen.lorimer@thomsonreuters.com Sales Co-ordinator: Sandy Shutt Tel: (416) 649-8864 E-mail: sandra.shutt@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 group: www.goo.gl/9tytr Editorial advisory board: Robin Brudner, MLSE Ltd.; Sanjeev Dhawan, Hydro One Networks Inc.; Kari Horn, Alberta Securities Commission; Jonathan Lau, TVO; Janis Vanderburgh, York Region Rapid Transit Corp. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reprinted without written permis- sion. 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, com- pleteness 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 © 2012 H.S.T. Registration #R121349799 To subscribe or change addresses Call (416) 649-9926 Fax (416) 649-7870 or e-mail Ellen Alstein at ellen.alstein@thomsonreuters.com RETURN UNDELIVERABLE CANADIAN ADDRESS TO: CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT One Corporate Plaza 2075 Kennedy Rd., Toronto ON. M1T 3V4 Indexed in the Canadian Periodical Index INHOUSE JUNE/JULY 2012 • 3 Are you just another service provider? I the goals of a legal department is often discussed as an ideal model, but how many in-house counsel can do that while at the same time fighting against the tide of work flowing into their departments? In this issue our Law Department f there wasn't enough for in-house counsel to do in a day, the pressure is on to reduce external spend and take on projects that improve the bottom line of their internal client. Aligning the goals of the business with proposition of the legal organization?'" said Brian Hilbers, assistant general counsel at Bruce Power's law division. "We need to provide business-oriented advice that will positively impact the bottom line of the organization." As Richard Stock, a partner with "You have to ask, 'what is the value Management story (see page 30) looks at an idea born out of the United States, which sees some large in-house teams bring in money owed to the business. It has served to raise the profile of in- house departments at companies like DuPont in a way that daily fire fighting can't. In the case of DuPont, its efforts include recovery of anything in the form of cash, products, or services for the company or its affiliates through legal intervention. This includes trademark infringement to goods lost or damaged in transit. Canadian in-house counsel seem split on whether this is an approach that could work here. The departments are smaller, for one thing, with fewer bodies to go pick battles outside their current mandate. Many just don't see it as part of their job description. However there is a Canadian-made model that is somewhat similar happen- ing in larger in-house departments. At the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association' 2012 National Spring Conference held in Montreal, in-house counsel from Bruce Power and Loblaws talked about how they are making room for projects that speak directly to the bottom line of the business units they support. s Catalyst Consulting, said, "This is about more than reacting to the demands of running the legal emergency room." Hilbers says there was concern initially from those at Bruce Power who didn't see it as the legal department' pate in activity that directly addressed the company's bottom line. "We look at the business plan of the s role to partici- company and key clients internally and attribute time to the matters of strategic interest per cent of our time on strategic work," Hilbers said. Making sure legal departments know to the company. We spend 20 what their goals are beyond getting the day-to-day job done is critical to mining additional value out of the department, says David Gore, vice president and legal counsel with Loblaw Companies Ltd., who also spoke on the panel. Without a strategic plan or goal-set- ting process that engages with the busi- ness units, and changes from year-to- year, the legal department is just another service provider. With CFOs taking a closer look these days at what the in- house legal team is doing, it seems only logical that general counsel should be sitting down to determine what the goals and mission of the department should be — it's the first step. As Gore said, "The biggest hurdle is getting over the mindset of not being in reactive mode. " IH Send your news and story ideas to jen.brown@thomsonreuters.com

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