Page 32 - CCCA 226419 Magazine Fall 2014

{ Feature } “Until recently, lawyers have been the dominant interface be- tween non-lawyers and the law and, for many legal situations, society has granted the legal profession exclusive rights to pro- vide help,” the Futures report states. “However, new technolo- gies (especially the Internet) and new providers (sometimes enabled by liberalization) are now challenging the legal profes- sion’s position as the only interface. Policymakers are likely to “ and through their demands are reshaping reappraise the role and relevance of the legal profession if le- Clients are driving the demand for change gal help can be provided accurately, responsibly, and yet more the way legal services are delivered. cheaply and conveniently by other methods or persons.” ” than 20 per cent of their legal issues, instead seeking the help Studies suggest that Canadians seek legal advice for less of accountants, fnancial planners and other professionals. Le- the show itself, importantly, was not. “Give us the same thing, gal outsourcers who provided “routinized” legal services, along with a smaller budget,” was the follow-up demand, which may with technology, which contains a wealth of legal information sound familiar to both in-house and outside counsel. So Cirque (though of course the key is separating the good advice from did. And while the creative minds behind the spectacle might the bad), and offshore legal process outsourcers are all helping have preferred the original lighting scheme to the tea candles to drain business away from traditional law frms. that were used instead, the audience was no less enchanted. And in their role as clients of lawyers, in-house counsel are “The constraints and challenges we all face force us to be- part of that drain, as they start to take on more of their own come more creative to get the job done,” Heward said. “There work as well. are many ways to do things, but you have to do things your “There’s pressure on legal departments, in-house legal de- way. It’s also important to allow what’s happening in the outside partments, to do more in-house and get as much advice ex- world to infuence you. You cannot work without taking into ternally without increasing the budget,” says Grant Borbridge, consideration what is happening in the world around you.” former president of the CCCA, and vice president, legal, and Another of the keynote speakers in St. John’s spoke of her general counsel with MEG Energy in Calgary. experience of helping to create a sustainable modern economy “Just to use an example of many companies in Calgary in in a community devastated by the collapse of the cod stocks in the energy feld, legal departments are growing to the point the late 1990s. And while the rocky shores of Zita Cobb’s native where they will have a person or a team with oversight of liti- Fogo Island are a far cry from the gleaming towers of Bay Street, gation or actually doing some litigation. They will have a team her conundrum—and the solutions to it—should resonate with that takes care of fnancing and acquisitions and the dives- lawyers across the country. Instead of trying to transplant new, poorly ftting technolo- gies onto the existing community, Cobb and her Shorefast Foun- dation used that community’s traditional skills and knowledge to create new opportunities, adapting new technology for their So in many ways, law own purposes. They use outside inspiration where necessary but always remain true to Fogo Island’s core capabilities. departments, in- By the time she delivered her speech at the conference’s clos- ing luncheon, Cobb, a former CFO for JDS Uniphase, had read house, are becoming ” the Futures report four times, fnding many areas of similarity between the experiences of the people of Fogo Island and Ca- much like mini law firms. nadian lawyers, and was brimming with creative ideas for trans- forming the legal profession. “The most important thing is to keep the most important thing the most important thing,” Cobb told the audience. For the Shorefast Foundation the most important thing is ensur- ing that whatever steps are undertaken, whatever initiatives are planned and carried out, they serve the people of Fogo Island. In Cobb’s words, they “optimized for” community. For law- yers, replace the word “community” with “client.” Clients need to be the focus of whatever innovations lawyers bring about or they will a) fnd someone else to do the work, or b) do it themselves. 32 CCCa Magazine | Fall 2014 autoMne