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CCCA_V3No2_EDMessage-FIN.qxd:CCCA_V1No2_EDMessage-V1.qxd 4/27/09 3:31 PM Page 8 From The Executive Director Your partner in Mot de la directrice exécutive Votre partenaire challenging times dans les moments The CCCA is adjusting its offerings to better difficiles serve you during the recession. L’ACCJE ajuste son offre pour mieux vous servir durant la récession. By Silvie Kuppek Par Silvie Kuppek t’s old news by now that we're in the grip of a brutal recession,both in Canada e n’est un secret pour personne que le Iand worldwide.What’s new is the unpleasant surprises that keep coming up:the Canada et le monde sont en récession. unexpected degree of corporate losses and cutbacks, the repeated postponement CCe qui peut encore étonner,par contre, of the date by which the recovery is supposed to begin, and so on. In these grim sont les mauvaises surprises qui s’empilent : la times,corporate law departments are on the front line in the effort to cut costs and multiplication d’annonces de compressions, les rationalize legal spend. suppressions d’emplois, la durée prévue de la In a serious downturn like this, the CCCA is determined to ensure we are récession, etc. responding to the new economic realities of your working worlds. Here’s a sample L’ACCJE a sondé les conseillers juridiques of what we’ve just learned from our 2009 In-house Counsel Barometer Survey: d’entreprise sur l’impact de cette conjonc- ture économique en 2009.Voici quelques faits • The majority (64%) of in-house counsel say that the economic situation has saillants : had at least some impact on their legal departments, including staff reductions, workload increases, tighter budgets, and fewer outside services. Many respon- • La majorité, soit 64 % de ces conseillers, dents say they’re doing more work compared to six months ago. affirme que l’impact de la récession s’est traduit par une réduction du personnel et de • When asked what steps their departments have taken in reaction to the reces- la sous-traitance, une augmentation de la sion, corporate counsel most frequently mention limiting the amount of fund- charge de travail, des budgets plus restreints. ing available for corporate events,decreasing the amount of work sent to outside counsel, decreasing or eliminating funding for conferences or CLE, and imple- • Les conseillers font état d’un financement limité menting a hiring freeze. quant aux événements et aux conférences pour la formation juridique continue, de même • Most in-house lawyers agree their legal department has developed a solid rela- qu’une suspension du recrutement. tionship with their organization, so they do not foresee fundamental changes to their department. In fact, most have been called upon more often for legal • Les conseillers ne prévoient pas de change- advice precisely because of the downturn.Only a small number say they’ve felt ments majeurs, la plupart ayant été plus sollic- pressure to cut costs by sending more work to external law firms. ités précisément à cause de la récession. As you face these enormous challenges, I want you to know that the CCCA is Les défis auxquels vous faites face sont right there with you.We’re challenging ourselves to help you do more with the énormes,et je tiens à vous rappeler que l’ACCJE same or fewer resources. sera là pour vous soutenir. Notre défi est de vous How? By offering well-priced and timely learning and networking confer- aider à vous dépasser, avec moins de ressources. ences; creating valuable publications in both print and electronic form; powering Comment ? En vous invitant à nos confér- up our web presence to offer more on-line seminars and an increasingly interac- ences de formation et de réseautage abordables, tive website; and promoting our mentoring program through which you can dis- en vous offrant nos publications imprimées et cuss your challenges and learn from those who’ve been through downturns before. électroniques, nos séminaires en ligne et notre Consider the CCCA to be your fully engaged partner as you and your com- programme de mentorat, conçu pour aborder les pany ride out this painful recession.We know what you’re going through, and défis avec vos pairs et tirer des leçons des réces- we’re here to help. sions précédentes. L’ACCJE est là pour vous! Send your comments to skuppek@ccca-cba.org. Commentaires? skuppek@ccca-cba.org. 8 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association SUMMER 2009