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CCCA_V6No2_Dept-CareerDevelopment-FIN_CCCA_V1No2_Dept-Ethics.qxd 5/24/12 12:16 AM Page 19 The Career Development business edge How going back to school can help in-house counsel climb the corporate ladder. By Bev Cline he pressure on in-house counsel Tto contribute to their organiza- tions’ overall success is translating into new career opportunities that go far beyond the traditional legal role. That’s good news for in-house lawyers seeking to move up the corporate ladder, especially those willing to burnish their cre- dentials with additional business training. “In our recruitment business, we’re Sean McGarrity finding that when companies approach us Chief financial and legal officer to find top-level talent, they are often BBB Architects Toronto looking for individuals with a broader skill set than purely legal,” says Shekhar Parmar, director of The Counsel counsel to have some kind of formal acumen and can contribute on the execu- Network, in Calgary. business training in addition to a law tive level as does the CFO, or head of mar- “When organizations look for a five- degree. A thoroughly unscientific survey keting or other business professionals.” or six-year-call lawyer, they are looking of a group of in-house counsel attending a D. Sean McGarrity, chief financial officer for a pretty specific function to be ful- panel at the CCCA annual meeting last and chief legal officer at BBB Architects in filled,” he explains. “[But after a lawyer] summer in Halifax revealed that more Toronto believes his double degrees – a law has been in-house for about five years, than half of the audience of in-house degree from Osgoode Hall Law School some of them are saying, ‘I’ve mastered counsel had earned some type of business and an MBA from the the Schulich School my legal portfolio here and if I really want or commerce degree of Business at York University through the to climb up the ranks, I have to learn to Organizations are already tapping into Joint Law and Business Program — got speak the language of business.’” the experience and skills of talented him his current job. “The firm realized For ambitious in-house counsel, an lawyers who don’t have formal business that the external legal spend was high; MBA is “helpful, but not necessary — at credentials, says Parmar. there’s a constant flow of contracts through least not yet,” Parmar says, adding that “There has been a recognition that in- here,” says McGarrity, the company’s sole PAUL EEKHOFF earning the degree is an emerging trend house lawyers — and specifically very tal- legal officer. He was initially hired for the CFO posi- ented lawyers that do tend to rise to the in the 35-45 demographic. tion — “the person they were replacing top — actually have pretty good business It’s already not uncommon for in-house ÉTÉ 2012 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association 19