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CCCA_V6No2_Dept-CareerDevelopment-FIN_CCCA_V1No2_Dept-Ethics.qxd 5/24/12 12:15 AM Page 20 Career Development Larry Kram General counsel and corporate secretary Alberta Electric System Operator Calgary was a Chartered Accountant” — and took Operator in Calgary, has seen his role to take,depending on the size of the com- off his legal hat to“make sure the financial evolve and broaden since he was hired as a pany and the stage it is at in terms of numbers worked.” He spends 50 to 60 per sole legal officer. He now heads a depart- growth, can open doors and you may find cent of his work day on matters relating to ment made up of five lawyers and three that there is an opportunity to stretch his role as chief financial officer. As legal administrative assistants. He is also respon- your skills, even into a non-legal role.” counsel, he is also “very proactive” work- sible for administration of the law ing alongside other business executives on department and mentoring. Even Career opportunities are business strategy. his role as corporate secretary has McGarrity’s experience reflects another evolved with the growth of the multiplying as organizations trend: the pressure from the executive to company and the board’s enhanced recognize the value of in- have general counsel take over different focus on ensuring its governance house counsel for their potential portfolios than they’ve traditionally han- practices are benchmarked against to handle multiple functions. dled. It also has ramifications for the quali- best industry practices. ty of legal work that trickles down in Career opportunities are multi- organizations with large legal departments. plying as organizations recognize the The shift to increased accountabilities “As a result of general counsels feeling value of in-house counsel for their poten- for in-house counsel is “great news” for this pressure, we’re seeing that diversity of tial to handle multiple functions. most in-house lawyers, Parmar believes. work flowing downstream within the “From my perspective, when you get “What it really says is that organizations legal departments as well. In the case of into the in-house environment, there are see value in legal being involved in broad- the only legal officer, the pressure is on quite possibly a lot of opportunities that er capacities than they have been histori- that individual to broaden the scope of present themselves career-wise whether cally.This is evidenced by the growth of their responsibilities,” Parmar says. you are a senior or a junior in-house legal departments in the last few years.” MARNIE BURKHART Larry Kram,general counsel and corpo- counsel,” Kram says. rate secretary for Alberta Electric System “The career path that you take or have Bev Cline is a freelance writer based inToronto. 20 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association SUMMER 2012