38 LEXPERT MAGAZINE
|
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016
| RISING STARS 2016 |
Doug Nathanson, General Counsel &
Corporate Secretary of Canadian Tire
Corp., similarly describes the Award as
marking a pivotal point in his career. To be
nominated by one's firm, one's colleagues,
meant a lot to him. But it wasn't just a time
to rest on laurels, he observed. For Nathan-
son, it was an occasion to consider and plan
the next phase of his career: what's next? He
made a career move about that same time.
Rising Stars Awards winners are in-
creasingly drawn from various types of
legal careers. Bindu Cudjoe, Deputy Gen-
eral Counsel & Chief Administrative Of-
ficer in the legal, corporate and compliance
group of BMO Financial Group, noticed
this trend: "For me, the Rising Star award
was meaningful recognition that success
in a legal career is more than the hours you
bill or size of the deal. It acknowledges that
success can be met pursuing a diversity of
career choices — from private practice to
inside counsel — on your own terms, at
a pace that works for you. Just as impor-
tantly, the Award celebrates your personal
aspirations and contributions beyond the
profession, such as volunteering, board
membership and teaching."
In fact, one cannot win a Rising Stars
Award at this point without making some
sort of contribution to community or pro-
fession. Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg
LLP partner Melanie Shishler remarked:
"e Award came at an important juncture
when it was particularly gratifying to have
the effort I had put into my career reach a
point where it could be recognized by my
peers and clients. is accolade remains
special to me because it not only took my
professional accomplishments into ac-
count, but also considered and valued the
contributions I've devoted to our local
community. Getting that balance right is
a challenge for all of us and I continue to
aspire to achieve it."
Lexpert has made continuous efforts
to achieve broader Diversity among Ris-
ing Stars winners. Blake, Cassels & Gray-
don LLP partner Linc Rogers noticed.
"e recognition had unique resonance to
me because I am a proud part of the ever
changing face of Bay Street. When I speak
to young associates from diverse back-
grounds they oen mention this Award
and tell me it is something to which they
also aspire. In its own way this Award has
helped make me a better role model. e
Lexpert Rising Stars Award has meant
many things to my career, but none more
important than that."
Rogers also said it was an opportunity to
share recognition with his team: "What-
ever success I've achieved is largely a reflec-
tion of the confidence and support that
my colleagues and mentors have placed in
me over the years. So receiving the Lexpert
Rising Star Award was particularly spe-
cial to me because it was a recognition of
the support of the outstanding team with
whom I work. e sponsorship and guid-
ance I received at Blakes never felt more
tangible than in that moment."
Jonathan Lisus, of Lax O'Sullivan Li-
sus Gottlieb LLP, saw it as a validation of
the training he had received: "It gave a vis-
ible opportunity to credit the people who
provided the opportunity for me to do the
work which allowed me to be considered
for the Award." In Lisus's case, this meant,
particularly, Tom Heintzman and Niels
Ortved, from his then law firm, McCarthy
Tétrault LLP.
Norie Campbell commended Lexpert
for relatively early on recognizing in-house
counsel in the Rising Stars Awards. Camp-
bell, Group Head and General Counsel,
TD Bank Group said, "While that might
be more common now, it was definitely not
at the time and it was very gratifying to see
the unique contribution of the in-house
Bar recognized. For me, personally, win-
ning the award was quite meaningful. Not
only did it make me feel great, but it also sig-
nificantly raised my profile both in the legal
community and within my organization."
e profile-raising theme recurred in
winners' comments. Adrian Lang, who
has now moved to a senior business role at
BMO said, "e really special thing about
Rising Stars is that it coincides with that
time in most of our careers where we were
working hard to build our practices and
our brands. It really gives a boost to your
brand at a time when external validation
of your abilities is so important." Shishler,
too, said the Award was an important start
to building my public profile in the busi-
ness and legal community.
STELLAR ALUMNI
Award winners of the past have gone on to do amazing things. This year, we asked a few
of our prominent alumni how the award helped to shape their careers
MICHELLE AWAD
McInnes Cooper
JONATHAN LISUS
Lax'O'Sullivan Lisus
Gottlieb LLP
BINDU CUDJOE
Bank of Montreal
LINC ROGERS
Blake, Cassels
& Graydon LLP
ADRIAN LANG
Bank of Montreal
MELANIE SHISHLER
Davies Ward
Phillips & Vineberg LLP
NORIE CAMPBELL
Toronto-Dominion Bank
DOUG NATHANSON
Canadian Tire Corp.
