Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/928155
JANUARY/ FEBRUARY 2018 16 INHOUSE units to increase awareness, assess risks and deliver an appropriate response. We op- erate in over 200 cities in the U.S., where the regulatory environment is far more challenging than in Canada because of the patchwork of federal and state jurisdiction. Privacy is a perfect example — in Canada, there is a fairly harmonious regime between the provinces and the federal government. I share the privacy role with our chief in - formation officer. He has the title, but we do the job together and get along very well and understand the risks very well. He looks at it from a data security standpoint with an IT lens, which is fabulous. I think we're very fortunate to be set up that way. That said, some compliance topics re - ceive consistent treatment in the U.S. and Canadian law, and legal takes the lead on those. We are currently completing our annual anti-bribery and corruption train- ing and are working to identify other areas where across-the-board (and border) educa- tion and policies would be effective. It's something every company that op- erates cross-border needs to be aware of — it's treated on both sides of the border as a serious matter. It can creep up on you in ways you don't really expect. We do it every year so everyone can have that "ah-ha" mo - ment to say, for example, "I think we need to revisit that contract because I don't think we can do this anymore because it may be looked at through this particular lens." I don't think any company can afford to ig - nore this. 3. IS CYBERSECURITY A PRIORITY FOR THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT? IN WHAT WAY? We are fortunate to have sophisticated IT resources that share legal's sensitivity to cyber-risks and how we use and handle our customers' and employees' personal infor- mation. There is an annual training and certification exercise that everyone is re- quired to complete, recognizing that many breaches originate internally and quite innocently. IT has their own incident re- sponse plan, but a larger corporate response plan and tabletop exercise are waiting in the wings. We have added cyber coverage to our suite of insurance policies, and we are also proactive in managing that risk through our contracts with third parties. In addition, 1. WHAT ARE THE BUSINESS CHALLENGES THAT IMPARK AND YOUR LEGAL TEAM ARE TACKLING FOR 2018? Impark has been on a brisk path of acquired growth since we were purchased in 2011 by the Ontario Teachers Pension Plan. Last year, we acquired Tennessee-based Repub- lic Parking Systems, which was one of the largest parking operators in the United States and a specialist in the vertical mar- kets servicing airports and municipalities. Next year will see more acquisitions in ad- dition to targets for organic growth, and we will also be rolling out a new Enterprise Resource Planning information system that will challenge us with new processes. While we will be taking a hard look at our workflow, we have also been green-lighted to staff up to meet the needs. So 2018 will be a banner year for managing change, but we also expect big dividends in the form of enhanced efficiencies, communication and cross-department collaboration. One of the pleasures of being in the le - gal department is our line of sight into so many areas of the company, and we get to participate in this transformation project as a stakeholder as well as a facilitator. It will also have a unifying effect on company cul - ture, which is something you can't take for granted when you grow quickly. It will pull together what used to be a lot of different threads of information and it's going to be fabulous in terms of making sure everyone has the same information in front of them. 2. WHAT ARE YOUR TOP PRIORITIES FOR THE BUSINESS UNITS YOU SERVE WHEN IT COMES TO REGULATORY AND COMPLIANCE MATTERS? Legal's responsibilities in the compliance sphere are primarily about educating senior management and supporting the business Nicola-Jane McNeill Senior vice president and general counsel Impark Size of legal department: Three lawyers and four paralegals First joined Impark in 1995