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CCCA_V5No1_Ethics-FIN.qxd:CCCA_V1No1_DriversSeat-FIN.qxd 2/9/11 10:58 AM Page 39 The company Feature role model When moving in-house, be prepared to handle some common ethical dilemmas. L awyers who switch from private practice to in-house will quickly discover BY CHRISTA WESSEL how important it is for them to be a role model for the rest of the organ- ization. Every business operates in a legal environment governed by laws and internal policies.As a member of the legal department, whether or not you are directly responsible for ethics, you will be called upon regularly to provide advice and guidance on how to ensure those laws and policies are properly respected. It’s also inevitable that your own conduct and behavior will come under scrutiny, which is why it pays to think ahead about how you will handle ethical dilemmas that arise daily for in-house lawyers. Here are three dilemmas you should be prepared for. . You will be asked to sign a document that makes you uncomfortable either because you lack the requisite knowledge or you believe it to be inaccurate. The law is clear: Lawyers are held to a higher standard than other business people in certain circumstances, especially when asked to sign a document. Before putting your signature on any document, a golden rule to follow is to make sure you have read and understood it fully.Yes, it seems obvious enough,but be prepared for the moment when a businessperson is sudden- ly pressing you for a quick signature on a document for which you have no knowledge and no context. It will happen.And no one is going to believe that a lawyer did not understand what he or she signed, whether it’s some- thing as simple as a certificate of incumbency or as complex and onerous as a certificate addressing compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act or Canadian equivalent. It’s worth noting that SOX certificates generally require a substantial ISTOCKPHOTO amount of knowledge about the organization’s business and operations as well as its financial statements. Statements in the certificates are often PRINTEMPS 2011 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association 39