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CCCA_V2No3_GrassGreener-FIN.qxd:CCCA_V1No1_DriversSeat-FIN.qxd 9/18/08 3:04 PM Page 33 Feature Jane Chung Associate Miller Thomson LLP, Toronto practice,” she says. “It gave me a broad-based knowledge of other “Oftentimes for clients, it’s more important to get the deal done areas of law, especially the regulatory aspect. But at the end of the than it is to cross the t’s and dot the i’s. For lawyers, sometimes it’s day, once you got a handle on that, that’s pretty much it.” hard to understand that.” Now an associate at Miller Thomson, she relishes the oppor- tunity to specialize and delve into complex issues. “I’ve had a lot Changing attitudes of people ask me, ‘Are you crazy? Why are you moving back to Going back to private practice is still less common than moving private practice?’” Chung says. But she has no regrets. “I’m very the other way, in part because law firms traditionally clung to the happy where I’m at,” she emphasizes. “It was more in line with belief that more than a year or two in-house erodes your legal what my career goals are.” skills. Increasingly, however, they’re starting to recognize that John Marner arrived at the same decision. He enjoyed his stint corporate counsel have valuable skills, experience and contacts, in-house for Northland Properties Corporation, a western says Martin Guest. He should know, having recently returned to Canada hospitality chain where he got involved in business deci- private practice after 13 years at Fidelity Investments Canada. sions and gained a broad range of legal expertise. After a year of “I think that the skill set and the capabilities you need to be a top being a “jack of all trades,” however, his career goals took him general counsel are just as useful in private practice,” he says. “[You] back to private practice as an associate at Fraser Milner Casgrain need to be able to drive results, manage risk, and be very practical.” LLP’s Calgary office. Guest initially moved in-house after six years at Osler Hoskin “What I find in-house is that if a large transaction comes across & Harcourt LLP, enticed by the prospect of being closer to the your desk, it typically goes to the outside lawyers who have the decision-making process. What followed was a satisfying career manpower to deal with it,” he explains. “That was a factor com- that saw the company grow from $5 billion in assets to $30 bil- ing to a firm like Fraser Milner Casgrain, where we do get to see lion, while Guest went from being the company’s sole legal those marquee deals and we get to deal with the Fortune 500 counsel to heading up a legal department of 20. companies and we get to see those more interesting files.” By 2008, however, he wanted a new challenge. After canvassing MARK STEGAL paid off when they moved back to private practice. “You get to his options, he accepted a partnership with Torys’ Toronto office, However, both Chung and Marner agree that time in-house impressed by the level of intellectual stimulation it offered, the see what really is important to the client,” says Marner. depth of the learning opportunities, and the range of work on tap. AUTOMNE 2008 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association 33