Canadian Lawyer InHouse

39 CANADIANLAWYERMAG.COM/INHOUSE NOVEMBER 2017 L a w D e p a r t m e n t M a n a g e m e n t ect provides risk, activity and budget status monitoring, messaging and collaboration on a single shared web-based project man- agement platform, enabling law firms and legal departments to work together more effectively, while reducing email traffic. At the same time, Cael Project now pro - vides in-house teams with a dashboard of status and actual costs against budget across all matters and all firms, along with a built- in mechanism for communicating in re - sponse to ongoing updates. Patel says the end goal was to showcase real-time information to clients, and for firms who use it that way, it can be a com - petitive advantage. "It's about pushing the law firms and the law departments together to say let's go a lit- tle deeper than the $100,000 budget figure and figure out how it is made up," says Patel. "If you can give lawyers proactive infor- mation about what's going on in the matter, the risks, the scope — what we can probably do is eliminate surprises and focus the work delivered to the most valuable things. Law firms can say we're planning to do these de- positions and the client can say no, we don't need to do those," adds Patel. A dashboard gives in-house counsel high- level actuals to budget and progress. "It's meant to be a light-touch health check on your matter portfolio — in-house can send a note or call. Kathuria says that, overall, the tools help build relationships. "When our clients have access to it, they know what's going on and there's no sur - prises," he says. "What we find is when [we] have more proactive project management happening, it actually improves the client relationship and improves trust." Legal departments can subscribe to Cael Project and then roll it out to their top external counsel. Gowlings piloted the software a year ago and doesn't charge for it — it's part of the firm's service delivery model. The firms purchase the product on a subscription model. For law departments that want their own version of the software to drive the project management, they will pay a base subscrip - tion fee and they can invite their law firms in and those firms will pay a small integra- tion fee. "Over time, what I think will happen is as people get on board to see the benefit of having Cael Project spread across multiple firms, it becomes low cost," says Patel. IH When our clients have access to it, they know what's going on and there's no surprises. PRATIK PATEL, Elevate Services Good governance starts here Available risk-free for 30 days Order online: store.thomsonreuters.ca Call Toll-Free: 1-800-387-5164 In Toronto: 416-609-3800 Order # 988060-65203 $80 Softcover approx. 180 pages September 2017 978-0-7798-8060-7 Shipping and handling are extra. Price(s) subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes. All companies compete in an environment where good governance is a business imperative. Yet many private companies, especially those with few shareholders, lack effective governance structures. Private Company Governance Guide offers the information you need to help your clients implement governance best practices, understand their rights and obligations, and resolve issues effectively. Private Company Governance Guide outlines the legal framework of corporate governance, the roles and responsibilities of directors and management, the relationship between board and management, the statutory and contractual rights of shareholders, the impact of a unanimous shareholder agreement, and the remedies available to shareholders. You'll find thoughtful discussion of the governance best practices that will help directors fulfil their duties and make management more accountable. Get new insight on how to handle governance issues – and how to prevent them. Turn to Private Company Governance Guide for legal insight and practical guidance on the best practices that will help private companies proactively manage governance issues and achieve long-term sustainability. New Publication Private Company Governance Guide A. Paul Mahaffy, B.A. (Hons.), LL.B., M.B.A., F.I.C.B. © 2017 Thomson Reuters Canada Limited 00247PP-A89301-NP

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