Canadian Lawyer InHouse

JANUARY/ FEBRUARY 2018 18 INHOUSE to annoy customers. The one area that is very interesting coming up is the potential sharing of infor- mation and heightened attention to be given to non-disclosure agreements. If you're sharing any confidential information or just very basic information about customers — you have to be so mindful that they are le - gitimate to make sure the data stays secure. There will be a continuing pressure from business partners around managing Big Data. That requires caution to ensure that privacy considerations are foremost. In ad - dition, any matter where there is a consid- eration of Big Data being shared as part of the preliminary contract talks, heightened focus is required for the non-disclosure agree - ment before any information is shared. In addition to the tradi- tional matters in the NDA, spe- cific terms with respect to data ownership and a higher-level assessment of the entity and its solvency must be brought to the table. The value is in the data, and if the requisite provisions are not in the NDA, a company can compromise its value before a contract is signed. 3. HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT MANAGING YOUR OWN TEAM? We want to get as efficient as we can and there are some areas where we have become extremely efficient through experience — privacy is an area where we work with the other business areas and are able to get systems in place and people walking the same walk. We don't just want to be adding cost, but if we need more resources, we will get them. We have an outside firm that deals with all of our employment issues. We think it makes sense to keep those things at arms length. The HR department deals directly with them and we stay out of that loop. As cost containment is always an issue, the continuing chal - lenge is to determine the most efficient way to deliver resources. I have found, when charged with a task, that not only completing a task (reviewing a contract for sales or assessing the privacy implica - tions of a process), the true value of in-house is considering the extent to which the issue is a one-off or something that should be imbedded in a process, such as developing template agreements for matters of frequent use or educating business partners on cer - tain issues, so that lawyers are tasked with matters that truly add value. Some of the other work we would do is advertising, privacy, board governance and contract review. We have two people very 1. WHAT ARE YOUR MAIN CHALLENGES FOR 2018? Resources are always a challenge. For us, it's for two reasons — the company itself is growing and legislation and regulations are increasing and changing. That always re- quires resources to make sure things are im- plemented properly and it's a cost. There's always a desire to make sure it's done prop- erly and it's an added cost to a service where we'd like to remain competitive so there's always a lot of balancing going on. Any time there is a change in the system, it requires a lot of work. It's an area where it's easier to get involved early. There are also new draft governance guidelines from the Office of the Superintendent of Finan - cial Institutions. We have regulations com- ing from both sides — federally and provin- cially — and that's the sort of thing where if I can insert myself into the process earlier on the legal implications end up being wo- ven in more efficiently than if we're brought in at the end of the process. That's where we try to stay really well connected with the different business areas. 2. FOR THE BUSINESS UNITS, ARE THERE SPECIFIC ISSUES WITH THEM THAT YOU ARE FOCUSED ON FOR THIS YEAR? CASL is always top of mind, but when it first came out, we worked with the various business areas on it so they are very good with it. It's an area where you want to fol - low the legislation because you don't want Martha Binks General counsel Allstate Canada Legal team is eight lawyers including Binks in the Toronto office and another two in Calgary. Many practise solely or partly litigation — insurance defence litigation. Binks has been at Allstate 14 years. ROBIN KUNISKI

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