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/654294
66 LEXPERT MAGAZINE | JANUARY 2013 | IN-HOUSE ADVISOR: BUILDING A CULTURE | At Direct Energy's principal Canadian office, located in Toronto, "there are no doors, no dividers, no offices, not even the CEO has an office. Anyone can walk over to in-house counsel's desk to discuss a matter, and they do," says Paolo Berard, Head of Legal, Direct Energy Services and Corporate Centre, Direct Energy Market- ing Limited. Philosophically, the legal department has an open-door type of environment, aligned with the overall office mindset. "We want to invite our business partners to come by with questions; the more we engage with them, the easier for us to identify and miti- gate risk," and hence the most efficient use of in-house counsel by its business partners. Being accessible underscores the value proposition of the law department at BMO Financial. "e days of having in-house counsel who sat behind their desks and waited for the business to call when there is a crisis are long over," says Anne Sonnen, Deputy General Counsel and Chief Administrative Officer, BMO Financial. Based on a relationship model aligned to support the structure of its lines of busi- nesses, the bulk of the lawyers are located in Toronto and Chicago, with others in New York, Milwaukee, Arizona, Montreal, London, Hong Kong and China. "Our gen- eral counsel's view, for all of our 100 lawyers worldwide," says Sonnen, "is we need to be in the business, to be actively meeting with our business partners and looking to pro- vide proactive and preventative guidance. You don't sit and take a meeting on a con- ference call when it's possible to go to the person's office." For example, prior to her current role, Sonnen managed litigation for the personal and commercial banking line of business in Canada, which included routine collection matters, the kind of work that tends to be commoditized, bulked out and given to external vendors. In this case, the work is undertaken in a suburban Toronto office, where a member of the legal team sits on site once a month. Employees know when she is coming and can aggregate questions and comments. Not only is this efficient use of Legal, says Sonnen, but also, by having a direct line, "if employees see something unusual or there is an escalated consumer complaint, they know who they can contact because they see her all the time, so we can prevent prob- lems from growing." In addition, education programs can be delivered directly. "If there is a change in regulations or in the legisla- tive environment, she gives a seminar on- site as to how those changes could have an impact on their business." Home office for Martin Guest, Vice- President & Chief Counsel, Individual Wealth Management, Manulife Financial, is the company's downtown Toronto office. But with direct reports in both Waterloo and Burlington, he's in each of those other locations typically once a week and occa- sionally more. "It's been very instructive to me, as I find each of the three offices has an entirely different feel and culture, which I also find personally invigorating," he says. Guest suggests the legal department's core role is to solve problems for the busi- ness, a key part of which is serving as a sounding board for the business people, providing creative advice, managing risk and developing options by which the busi- ness can achieve its goals. If Legal is going to deliver value to the business, "it's essential that we be avail- able and accessible and that our business colleagues feel welcome to call on us early in the process of whatever it is that they're working on. I think physical location of lawyers is important, because for all our technology, there is still nothing like a face- to-face discussion," he says. In a smaller organization like Build Toronto, which currently has a comple- ment of 30 employees, putting out the wel- come mat for your business colleagues can even be aided by the furniture you select. "I'm struck by how much decision-making and thinking and planning is the result of informal meetings between myself and my business partners," says Trumper. "So much of it is through unstructured face-to-face dialogue, so allowing an appropriate forum for that to happen is critical." To facilitate the informal interchange of ideas, Trumper has a small round table surrounded by four chairs right inside his office door. He does so intentionally to "create a physical environment that facili- tates talk, discussion, and provides a forum for building consensus." And he declined having a printer in his office, preferring instead to walk through the office to the central printer. A combination of formal and informal dialogue was very effective in creating a cul- ture that promotes effective use of the legal department, recalls Graham McLeod, who was Vice President of Project Legal at Infra- structure Ontario for five years, until 2010. Currently a partner at Blakes in the infrastructure and procurement group, McLeod speaks to the value he experienced at Infrastructure Ontario of "informal, almost water cooler kind of chats" with his business partners. e chats were impor- tant to gain "an understanding of what was [If Legal is going to deliver value to the business] it's essential that we be available and accessible and that our business colleagues feel welcome to call on us early in the process of whatever it is that they're working on. I think physical location of lawyers is important, because for all our technology, there is still nothing like a face- to-face discussion.