Lexpert magazine features articles and columns on developments in legal practice management, deals and lawsuits of interest in Canada, the law and business issues of interest to legal professionals and businesses that purchase legal services.
Issue link: https://digital.carswellmedia.com/i/1518995
20 www.lexpert.ca InHouse Profile look at our footprint over the last few years, we've had a deeper push into greater Europe and have completed quite a few acquisitions," he says. "As well as Italy and Spain, France, Netherlands, Scandinavia. Our growth will probably continue primarily into North America, the UK, Australia, and Europe – however, we're not close to any specific region." In dealing with all these significant acqui- sitions across various countries and cultures, Felicissimo quickly reminds the legal team that there's no one-size-fits-all approach and that each case must be dealt with individually. "I always tell our M&A team that no acquisition is the same," says Felicissimo. "It's very hard to have a copy-paste approach to all acquisitions. I know from a non-lawyer's point of view, they're very process-oriented, if you will. But for us, for a legal team dealing in a highly entrepreneurial environment, it's easy to be caught up in the acquisition flow. "I keep telling our team that we have a vastly different job than our non-legal M&A team. eir job is to close, to basically acquire busi- nesses, assuming it fits the actual model. Our job is to protect the mothership." It's easy, Felicissimo admits, to see the closing time creeping up and get bitten by the entrepreneurial bug – urging for speed. However, he remains steadfast in saying that due diligence is the key to success in M&As. "e important part is not to take any shortcuts," he says. "We have a different role than our M&A team does. We try as much as possible to align with them, to focus on the bigger picture, but at the same time, it's incred- ibly important to remember what a legal team's first and foremost responsibility is." And with Felicissimo's team overseeing merger aer merger, safeguarding from burnout is paramount. He tells Lexpert that this is an issue that many larger firms deal with – protecting employee well-being and fostering a positive culture around mental health. At Valso, he says there's never one person wholly responsible for overseeing the deal – it's a collaborative effort. "On the M&A side, we try to avoid the deal being contingent on one person," Felicissimo says. "e reason is if a vacation is set in the middle of a deal, we want to be able for another lawyer to step in efficiently and not have the deal slow down." Felicissimo says that sometimes someone on his team will shyly raise the issue of their upcoming vacation, seeking permission to go. Felicissimo is quick to say they deserve to take a break. "It's important to take time off and block," he adds. "We always make sure that it's a team effort – that anybody can basically step in if the need arises." And it seems other legal leaders should take a page from Felicissimo's book. According to e National Study on the Psychological Health Determinants of Legal Professionals in Canada, lawyers with the highest proportions of psycho- logical distress are women (63.7 percent), professionals working in the public sector or not-for-profit (58.0 percent), profes- sionals between the ages of 26 and 35 (71.1 percent), and professionals living with a disability (74.3 percent). In the face of such data, Felicissimo suggests a reward-based system. He explains that cele- brating a deal or a milestone as a group can significantly impact an individual's mindset. "It might be a small reward, but it goes a long way. We try to have an event aer every deal, whether that's a dinner or whatnot, just to celebrate the closing. In [our] case, when you're doing 25 deals, we're obviously not having 25 events – but we tend to do it for more milestone events." And, finally, the golden key to preserving a legal team's mental health is communication. At Valso, Felicissimo says they're in constant contact with each other, which always helps share the burden. "We're constantly speaking three or four times a day. And so, you can really see early signs of if a person is stressed – everyone steps in and supports each other." "I ALWAYS TELL OUR M&A TEAM THAT NO ACQUISITION IS THE SAME. IT'S VERY HARD TO HAVE A COPY-PASTE APPROACH TO ALL ACQUISITIONS" THE STORY OF VALSOFT Birth of the company: Valsoft started with an idea and vision and became one of the fastest-growing software consolidators in Canada – with offices across four continents and over 3,000 employees globally. Hometown: Valsoft was born and raised in Montreal, contributing to Quebec's economy through job creation and acquisitions. Charity: Spearheaded with Valsoft's sister companies, the launch of the Valsef Dream Big Foundation focused on supporting qualified charitable organizations through donations to improve the lives of Montrealers. Slogan: Despite its meteoric growth over the last eight years, the company says it continues to abide by its motto: "Be Humble, Stay Hungry."