Canadian Lawyer InHouse

Q JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 34 INHOUSE actions because we didn't have part 23.1 [of Ontario's Securities Act], which was the legislation that was brought in in Ontario in 2005 to facilitate securities class actions. I was on maternity leave with my daughter in 2005 and came back and thought "there's this new legislation . . ." and I started writing about it and letting everyone in my firm know I knew about it and the cases started coming and they had to use me. That's how I got up to speed in a new area and I've done a lot of work in that [practice area]. I think if I hadn't had time to think about it and ramp back up [after maternity leave], I probably wouldn't have been able to make the investment to get the expertise. LINDA PLUMPTON: I think all of our stories are about serendipity. When I think about how I got into competition law, I had two mentors earlier in my career — John Laskin and Kent Thomson — both of whom practised in that area. As I started at the firm, there was a criminal trial under s. 45 of the conspiracy provisions of the Competition Act that was ongoing. We also happened to represent the defendants in the first two price-fixing class actions that were commenced at the cusp of a growing, novel area of practice. I spent a lot of time on those matters. I wouldn't have predicted when I started that this is where I would have ended up but it took me to the Supreme Court of Canada. REENA LALJI: If you're a true litigator, often you don't think in-house is the place to be. But what's interesting — at least I find this at CIBC — is the litigators are heavily involved in the litigation. When I came from private practice, I had a very broad, general litigation practice. I really found it helped a lot when I went in- house. I did zero banking litigation even though CIBC was a client and is a client of Gowlings where I was in private practice; I was just never on any of the banking files. But I didn't find it difficult because it's not really banking litigation — it is class actions, securities work, regulatory work — a mix of everything and so if you know how to do all of that you can do banking litigation. I do find with our group we are very small compared to the other banks and so whatever comes along comes along and we all share in it. I found it surprisingly rewarding. I remember telling people I'm just going to go in-house for three to four years and will go back to private practice and bring the client. Eight years later, I'm still there and still feeling challenged. CATHERINE BEAGAN FLOOD: I was very interested in public law. I came to Blakes because Peter Hogg is scholar in residence here and Paul Schabas is here, too. I've been very lucky to be able to continue to do some of that work — I still get to write constitutional opinions with Peter Hogg and go to the Supreme Court with him. On the privacy side, when I first started as a litigator, I wasn't sure if I wanted to stay in private practice or become an academic. I clerked at the Supreme Court of Canada, I did a masters degree and Osgoode tried to recruit me when I was at Harvard. I told them I wasn't sure yet that is what I wanted to do, but I taught privacy as an adjunct professor for eight years and started teaching when PIPEDA came into force in 2000 — so, again, that serendipity of learning a new area of law when no one knew anything about it. More recently, given the growth in data breaches and how important preparing for those and defending those class actions has become for our clients, what had been giving privacy advice on PIPEDA in 2000 has turned into defending data breach class actions and dealing with cyberattacks — something I never anticipated in 2000, but that marries my interest in privacy and class actions. INHOUSE: What differences do you think women litigators face compared to male litigators? MACKEWN: I do a lot of work with traders, investment advisors and most of them tend to be men, although there are women. I have had male clients say to me, "Do you think you can be tough enough on this?" And I think to myself — you clearly do not know me if you are asking me that question. They would never ask a man that. The thing I have decided is the difference between men and women in litigation as a practice area is with men there is a presumption of confidence. They walk into a boardroom at a firm and see the male lawyer and assume the man is smart and has had a successful career. I feel as women you have to prove yourself initially and once you do they realize they have someone who will work harder for them and be more available for them, but you don't have the presumption of confidence I think that men get the benefit of in litigation. It's not something I feel I've not been able to overcome, but it's something I'm aware of at the introductory phase of a client relationship. PLUMPTON: I think there are differences, but I think the balance tips in favour of us in many ways. I think there are more women that you encounter day to day in the litigation practice now, fortunately because LINDA PLUMPTON Partner, litigation and dispute resolution practice, and competition and antitrust practice, Torys LLP. She has also had significant management roles including eight years on the firm's executive committee. The only myth I see is the inverse of the 'you're not tough enough' and that is the 'you're too tough' myth. LINDA PLUMPTON, Torys LLP

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