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CCCA_V6No3_Spotlight-FIN_CCCA_V1No1_Profile-FIN.qxd 9/19/12 10:53 AM Page 47 Spotlight on… The new face of in-house counsel respondents indicated “providing value as earned. You have to be able to demon- seen as extremely valuable. It is a good in-house counsel is closely tied to manag- strate your business acumen and your legal career choice, both from a satisfaction and ing or reducing risk.A strong majority (84 knowledge and provide the two.” financial point of view,” he says. per cent) cites risk management, followed The 1960s and 70s view of in-house by ensuring regulatory compliance (48 per counsel as gatekeepers is gone, he says. Bev Cline is a freelance writer based cent) and controlling costs of external “The work of corporate counsel today is inToronto. counsel (44 per cent) as the key forma of value they provide in their organizations.” In this, corporate counsel in Canada appear to be out-pacing their internation- Toll-free: 1 855 900 YORK | GTA: 416 736 5616 | coned@yorku.ca al counterparts. Swansburg refers to a 2010 Deloitte Survey on changing trends in the Division of role of corporate counsel which showed “62 per cent of Canadian respondents Continuing Education indicated that their role included responsi- bility for strategy development compared Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies to only 42 per cent of global respondents.” From gatekeeper q7KLV FHUWLßFDWH KDV JLYHQ P\ to decision-maker career a new focus and direction, Decades ago, in-house counsel was seen as DQGKDVEHHQDWUHPHQGRXVDVVHW a gatekeeper,says Howard Kaufman.“Their WRP\0DVWHUpVRI/DZSURJUDP prime responsibility was managing files,but 'LVSXWHUHVROXWLRQVNLOOVZLOOKHOS over time, certainly by the time I went in- \RX UHVROYH WKH FRQàLFWV WKDW house in 1977,you were expected to know the law and to apply it to the business you HYHU\RQHHQFRXQWHUVHDFKGD\r were serving.” David Loney, Mediator Now a lawyer with Fasken Martineau LLP with a special focus on client rela- tions and business development, Kaufman retired after 24 years in-house with Xerox &HUWLßFDWHLQ'LVSXWH5HVROXWLRQ Canada Inc.As late as the 1990s and early 2000s, management wanted legal to par- BECOME A ticipate in business decision-making and provide legal solutions to business issues, PROFESSIONAL but didn't necessarily want legal at the executive table, he says. “So the fight for MEDIATOR corporate counsel was to push and show their worth to get that seat.” Kaufman was at the executive table as /HDUQIURPWKHßQHVWGLVSXWH vice-president, legal and external affairs resolution practitioners in a highly and secretary.There was a time, however, he says,when he reported to a senior vice- engaging, practical & professional president, not the president. His challenge learning environment. became“to demonstrate the capacity I had for the business side;to be able to have the president say: ‘I don't want to have his views filtered. I want him at the executive coned.yorku.ca/disputeresolution table with me.’ This is something that is AUTOMNE 2012 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association 47