Page 33 - CCCA 226419 Magazine Fall 2014

{ Feature } “ The CCCA’s business skills course and certified in-house counsel designation respond to the in- house bar’s need to ‘think like a lawyer but be able to deliver advice like a business person.’ ” titures. They’ll have some others who deal Business which law frm will take on a particular project, with regulatory issues… there are all sorts person the law frms will be very creative in how they of specializations that come into play,” present their proposal,” he said. “And many times explains Borbridge. they’ll come up with two or three options as When their clients walk down to how the project can be taken on, what the the hall with a question, the in- Lawyer billing structure will be and so forth. They house department has to be pre- will be creative.” In other circumstances, he pared to answer it. Immediately. adds, the in-house department knows what “That means the departments have it wants—for example, work done at a fat to have the necessary specializations rate or on a piece-by-piece basis—and will that can provide those answers with ask specifcally for that. a level of confdence about the quality “I think it’s a combination of the two,” Bor- of those answers. So in many ways, law bridge concluded. “I think law frms and in- departments, in-house, are becoming house departments are working together to much like mini law frms.” achieve what’s needed to change a little bit. I The 22 recommendations of the Fu- don’t think change is happening at a lightning- tures report are divided among the key fast pace, but it is happening.” themes of Innovation, Regulation and One thing legal departments need to do, he Education, with suggestions for changes adds, is fnd a way to prove their value, to measure in all areas. For in-house counsel, Bor- their success: “Whether that’s by coming up with key bridge suggests, innovation and education go performance indicators or another method, I do think hand-in-hand. it’s one of the critical items that in-house departments need The CCCA’s business skills course and certified in-house to look to. Because there are other ways of obtaining what some counsel designation respond to the in-house bar’s need to entities think they need as far as legal services go. And so the “think like a lawyer but be able to deliver advice like a busi- legal departments need to show we understand the business ness person.” The program, he says, is in line with the re- better than anyone else and here’s how we’re adding value as port’s suggestion that lawyers will need to have new skills a result.” and new kinds of training to have the flexibility they will Innovation is not just a question of fnding a new way of need to adapt to the changing legal environment. doing things. It’s about, as some say, “beating the lawyer out “It doesn’t matter whether [a person’s] goal is to ultimately of the in-house counsel” and adopting a new mindset—engag- run one of the groups within the legal department or become ing, perhaps, in a robust dialogue about reconfguring in-house associate general counsel or… even ultimately run the business altogether. As Hackett said in her ReInvent Law presentation, some day as CEO. Any one of those goals can be easier to achieve what’s needed is a change in behaviour, which will in turn in- if a person enhances their ability to take their knowledge and do spire new ways of doing things. their absolute best with that training and knowledge to be able And perhaps it’s about thinking less like lawyers and more to deliver it to the business effectively,” he says. like clients. Going back to the conundrum of being both lawyers and For more information of the CBA Futures Initiative and to clients, Borbridge agrees that there’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg read the full report, visit www.cbafutures.org. ❚ question about whether the in-house bar is driving change or being changed by the demands from their own clients. “If there’s what is often referred to as a beauty contest to see Kim Covert is a writer and editor at the CBA. Canadian Corporate Counsel assoCiation | CCCa-aCCje.org 33