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CCCA_V7No3_UpholdingBrand-FIN_CCCA 13-09-23 4:16 PM Page 27 Feature Left to right: Heather Innes, Nathalie Des Rosiers, and Tim McGee. “The question for regulators is, given these changes, is it the role of the regulator to lead, follow, or get out of the way?” says McGee. “The answer to that question is ‘a little of each,’ and (the difficulty is in) finding the right mix of that to support a thriving profession to maintain the public’s confidence.” Des Rosiers and McGee, along with GM Counsel Heather Innes represented the “three pillars” of the legal profession – lawyer, educator and regulator — in a panel discussion during the 2013 CBA Legal Conference in Saskatoon titled Shaping the Future of In-House Counsel. Innes told the lunchtime crowd that even as the recession brought many organizations to the finan- cial brink, it created opportunities along with competitive challenges. “Organizations have changed the way they do business. There’s a greater focus on the bottom line,” she said. In-house counsel are busy dealing with a changing regulatory environment and the pressure of demands to do more with less while having to strictly adhere to corporate policy objectives. “There’s absolutely no room for complacency and less room for error.” It used to be that a law student could leave school, step into a firm and stay there until retirement, Des Rosiers says. In the absence of that kind of security, today’s law students “will have to be the creators of their own jobs. They will have to reinvent themselves several times over the course of their career.” Legal scholars will have to be ready, willing and able to grasp the pace of change. Given the glob- alization of business, they will have to see themselves as global agents, she said. “Students must have a certain cultural dexterity,” she added, with an ability to embrace diversity. Law schools, for their part, have a continuing obligation to create “the right ethical reflexes” in DARRELL NOAKES their students. There are a vast variety of ways regulators can change to assist and support changes in the profes- sion, McGee says. AUTOMNE 2013 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association 27