Canadian Lawyer InHouse

SEPTEMBER 2016 32 INHOUSE W hen Jennifer McGoey started in her role with BMO Financial Group as senior counsel, the fi rst order of business was to implement the Volcker Rule across the bank. "I didn't know anything about the Vol- cker Rule," says McGoey, with a laugh. But McGoey, director, compliance and supervision, BMO Capital Markets, and deputy lead for the Volcker Rule pro- gram at BMO, is a quick study. She soon learned about the rule — which essen- tially prohibits banking entities from engaging in proprietary trading and certain private fund activities, with some exceptions — and managed to oversee its implementation across BMO's various businesses. McGoey is a winner of the 2016 Innovatio Award in the Tomorrow's Leader category for large legal departments. Her nominator Simon Fish, ex- ecutive vice president and gen- eral counsel of BMO Financial Group, raved about her ability to keep her fi nger on the pulse of developments affecting her busi- nesses and her knack for simplify- ing processes. "She tries to drive effi ciency and practicality, as well as collaboration, so everyone has a say. She believes in taking full accountability and ownership of her work, and expects the same of oth- ers," Fish said. "She strives to engage others around her and works to ensure everyone, no matter what their role, is respected and included. She believes in working hard and effi ciently, while also giving back to others around her, and having a strong role at home with her family." McGoey was called to the bar in 2009, and worked at McCarthy Tétrault LLP before joining BMO in 2012. Fish said her work at the bank "demonstrated maturity beyond her tenure." McGoey stepped up to lead the legal and compliance group's yearly innovation chal- lenge initiative, which seeks to do away with ineffi ciencies in the department. "It's really something that you thought could make an impact in your life and really make your job easier," she says. Most recently, McGoey and her team tackled a common pain point that slowed all of them down: redacting information from years and years of board materials and min- utes whenever they were asked to produce it. The task involved an archaic process of blocking out paragraphs with sticky notes and copying pages. Now, the team has switched to an elec- tronic redaction and archiving process, a system that's saving approximately 16 days of lawyer time and 20 days of legal assistant time per year. The new process signifi cantly mitigates the risk of human error in corpo- rate records as well, McGoey says. As part of the innovation challenge, McGoey's team also moved to a secure electronic doc- ument-sharing system, which meant BMO's external counsel no longer had to fl y in from the U.S. to collect the fi les they needed. For the company, that translates to a saving of at least $13,000 per year. McGoey is also an avid volunteer with par- ticular interest in work around mental health. "As someone who knows what it feels like to struggle with mental health, I think it is hugely important for there to be resources and support services available to individuals who need them," she says, adding she is also specifi cally interested in children's mental health. Along with her colleagues, she held a sem- inar of hidden disabilities at BMO, where people opened up about everything from mental health issues to vision problems. "I think that opening the conversation and reducing the stigma associated with mental health allows others to seek help more easily," McGoey says. IH Driving efficiency and practicality in a complex environment By Yamri Taddese hen Jennifer McGoey role with BMO Finan senior counsel, the fi rst ord was to implement the Volck the e bank. "I didn't know anything a cker Rule," says McGoey, wit But McGoey, director, co superv rvision, BMO Capital deputy lead for the Volc gram at BMO, is a quick s learne n d about the rule — tially prohibits banking en enga g ging in proprieta cert r ain private fund some exceptions — to oversee its im across BMO's vari McGoey is a 20 2016 Innovatio Tomorrow's Le fo for large legal Her nominator S ecutive vice presi eral counsel of B Group, raved abo to to keep her fi nger developments affec nesses and her knac in ing processes. "She tries to drive pr practicality, as well as so everyone has a say. S ta taking full accountability a of of of of of o her work, and expects the er e s," Fish said. "She strives to ar a ound her and works to en no matter what their role, is included. She believes in wor By Yamri Taddese CATEGORY: Tomorrow's Leader DEPARTMENT SIZE: Large COMPANY: BMO Financial Group Jennifer McGoey, director, compliance and supervision, BMO Capital Markets. ROBIN KUNISKI

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