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CCCA_V5No4_Handbreak-FIN_CCCA_V5No4_Handbreak-V1.qxd 11/20/11 10:26 PM Page 28 Feature go-ahead on that edgy campaign to (illegally) spray-paint the do the right thing,” she says. “Generally they do not want to be company’s logo on city streets. “I always give that very public, the catalyst for Microsoft being the subject of a lawsuit or an respectful credit,” says Preston, who takes pride in the fact that her investigation by regulator.” sales department is well trained in the company’s due diligence requirements. When one of Allen-Vanguard’s salesperson recently BE A FACILITATOR flagged suspicions about the background of a candidate applying If the stereotype is that lawyers can slow the pace of dealmaking, to become the company’s agent in Africa, Preston had an internal the reality is that a business-savvy lawyer can speed things up. A memo sent to everyone, “with kudos to the guy, saying, ‘It would lawyer experienced in the industry is often in touch with subject- have been nice to have made the sale, but it was just the wrong matter and operations experts, says Letson. “I’m willing and able thing to do, and he didn’t do it.’ And he gets a pat on the back as to jump in and facilitate those meetings and introduce the busi- he walks down the hall from the CEO.” nesspeople here at the subsidiary to contacts at [company’s head office in Redmond, Washington] so that we can get through an MAKE THE RISKS REAL issue quicker. With issues that I know need to be escalated To convince sales and marketing teams of the gravity of under- through our head office, I can facilitate that escalation because estimating legal risks, it’s useful to have handy the examples of I’ve been through it a few times. Things like that are much appre- real consequences. Preston, for example, regularly pulls out her ciated by the people here trying to get the deal done.” PowerPoint slide detailing the multimillion-dollar fines handed down to the company’s competitors for foreign corruption. CULTIVATE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE C-SUITE Letson, similarly, uses examples of cases where Microsoft has More and more, it’s de rigueur for CLOs to be part of the exec- been the target of lawsuits to make her point: “These kinds of utive team — a move that makes it easier not only for legal to examples are the most convincing, because most people want to align its work with the business’s larger goals, but also to ensure F él icit a tio n s C ong r at ulat i ons Le cabinet d’avocats Langlois Kronström Desjardins offre ses plus sincères félicitations à M Monique Mercier e à la suite de sa nomination à titre de première vice- présidente, chef des services juridiques et secrétaire générale de TELUS. Toute l’équipe de Langlois Kronström Desjardins vous souhaite le meilleur des succès dans vos nouvelles fonctions. Langlois Kronström Desjardins extends its most sincere congratulations to MsMonique Mercier on her appoint- ment as Senior Vice-President, Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary of TELUS. The entire team at Langlois Kronström Desjardins wishes her continued success in this major new role. LKD.ca Montréal Québec Langlois Kronström Desjardins, S.E.N.C.R.L. 28 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association WINTER 2011