Page 7 - CCCA62_2012

CCCA_V6No2_ChairMessage-FIN_CCCA_V6No1_ChairMessage-V1.qxd 5/24/12 12:13 AM Page 7 From the Chair Value and influence Mot du Président Le pouvoir de la valeur The in-house bar proves it can change — et de l’influence and grow — with the times. Le Barreau en entreprise prouve qu’il n’est pas statique. By Geoffrey Creighton Par Geoffrey Creighton t is no surprise that as organizations of all kinds become larger, more mesure que les organisations de tous types complex,global,and influential,the nature of legal work they generate, prennent de l’ampleur, se complexifient, se Iand the demands they place on in-house counsel, will change as well. Àmondialisent et gagnent en influence, la In mid-April, CCCA held its combined World Summit and Spring nature du travail juridique et les exigences envers le Conference, and the changing face of the profession is evident in even conseiller juridique d’entreprise changent en con- a cursory glance at the topics covered in the program:“Navigating ten- séquence. m’ont rendu joignable en tout temps. sions between global compliance and professional responsibility,”“Global À la mi-mai, l’ACCJE a tenu l’événement conjoint anti-bribery and corruption update,” “Ethical obligations of in-house Sommet mondial-Conférence nationale du prin- counsel in a technological world” — subjects which highlight the mul- temps. Les thématiques abordées, soit «Tensions entre tidisciplinary role that in-house counsel increasingly are expected to play la conformité à l’échelle mondiale », « Anticorruption in their organizations. mondiale et mise à jour sur la corruption », Prior to 1988, there was no formal association of in-house counsel in « Obligations éthiques du conseiller juridique d’entre- Canada. When CCCA came on the scene, many would not have fore- prise dans un monde de technologie », soulignent le seen what the profession would become barely two and a half decades rôle multidisciplinaire que les conseillers d’entreprise later. Consider the composition,competencies,and public perception of doivent de plus en plus jouer dans les organisations et the in-house bar. For example, the regular membership of the CCCA les changements dans la profession. today comprises as many female as male lawyers — outpacing the pro- Lorsque l’ACCJE a été fondée en 1988, personne fession as a whole in gender balance. It is an interesting statistic that ne pouvait prévoir ce qu’il adviendrait de la profes- would have seemed implausible in the 1980s. sion deux décennies et demie plus tard, y compris The competencies expected of in-house counsel defy the trend toward que ses membres seraient composés d’autant de increasing specialization and stratification within the profession. Few bud- femmes que d’hommes, un modèle d’équilibre au ding lawyers would expect their role to include: project management, sein de la profession! proactive risk management,knowledge management and people manage- Peu d’avocats en herbe auraient prévu que leur rôle ment, in addition to fluency in areas of law as diverse as anti-corruption, comprendrait la gestion de projets, la gestion proactive cross-border legal privilege and IT contracting — not to mention being du risque,des connaissances et des ressources humaines, the voice of valued counsel on issues of a primarily business rather than en plus d’une maîtrise en lutte contre la corruption,en legal nature. privilèges juridiques transfrontaliers, sans oublier leur The influence exerted upon outside legal suppliers has expanded along contribution sous la forme de conseils d’affaires. with the size of the in-house bar.With influence comes prestige. It is fair Comme le prestige vient avec l’influence, tous ces to say that the perception of in-house counsel and the attraction of this développements ont concouru à la perception favo- career path have been enhanced by all these developments. rable à l’égard des conseillers juridiques d’entreprise At the same time,the strains in the wider economy have created increas- et au pouvoir d’attractivité de leur carrière. ing focus on efficiency and profitability in both businesses and outside law Parallèlement, les pressions de l’économie mondiale firms. While in-house counsel would be the last to say that profit and effi- ont mis plus d’accent sur l’efficacité et la productivité ciency are bad things,I believe they do put additional pressures on in-house et celles-ci renforcent l’importance de maintenir des counsel, which make it all the more important to maintain the values of valeurs professionnelles, notamment par l’intermé- professionalism, through interaction with our peers and the legal profession diaire d’interactions avec ses pairs et l’ensemble de la as a whole.This is precisely what the CCCA facilitates and encourages. profession. C’est précisément ce que l’ACCJE favorise. Send your comments to ccca@ccca-cba.org. Commentaires? ccca@ccca-cba.org. ÉTÉ 2012 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association 7