Page 30 - CCCA 247020 Magazine Spring 2016

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One recent graduate, Natasha Palacio, recalls the corporate the future bottom line. As a member of the senior management
culture shock she experienced after joining the Commonwell team overseeing the plan’s roll-out, Lennox is in regular contact
Mutual Insurance Group (previously Farmer’s Mutual) as in- with colleagues to monitor progress. “We are constantly revisit-
house counsel in 2012. An experienced litigator in private prac- ing [the plan] and ensuring it is appropriate as the landscape
tice, she moved to Commonwell to set up its legal department, shifts around you,” he says.
expecting an emphasis on litigation work. But the job descrip-
tion quickly expanded to include corporate contracts and pro-
curement, thrusting her into all aspects of the mutual insurance inCreAsed ACCountAbilitY And trust
business. That posed challenges. Meanwhile, changes in the legal profession are feeding interest
“I found there was a signifcant language barrier,” recalls Pa- in fnancial literacy, says Hugh Arnold, Rotman’s Academic Di-
lacio, who ruefully admits she is math-phobic. “When you speak rector of the CIC.C program. “The size of the in-house counsel
with other business people, it is very diffcult for you to speak in a department is increasing, the quality of the people in them is
way that they understand you and you understand them.” increasing, and there is a drive from the lawyers themselves as
Before taking the course, she says, “I was very hands-off in well as from the senior management of the frm to say we have
terms of offering my own opinions in ways they would under- these smart, highly paid people, and we want them to contrib-
stand.” But the more she was drawn into senior-level meetings, ute to the whole business,” he says.
she realized she needed to learn some fnance fundamentals. By defnition, adds Arnold, “a good General Counsel is some-
one who can deliver the legal support and advice needed within
the frm and can also appear to his or her organizational peers as
“lawyers have had a seat at the part of the senior team.”
executive table for a long time. Beyond the legal industry, public opinion and regulatory
What is changing is our expectation body insistence on accountability add to the imperative for
of leadership in general about lawyers to understand fnancial concepts, says Calgary lawyer
Patricia McLeod, with 22 years of experience in regulated and
fnancial literacy.” deregulated environments.
patricia mcleod, general Counsel, Ignorance, she emphasizes, is no longer an excuse.
CareVest Capital inc. “If your legal professional accountability requires you to be
at the [management] table and utilize fnancial statements, that
is where the world is saying there is no excuse to say, well, your
With the certifcate, Palacio says she gained confdence in CFO didn’t tell you,” says McLeod, General Counsel for CareVest
math and learned how to explain the value-added services Capital Inc., a Calgary commercial mortgage broker and lender.
of her own department, such as the cost savings accrued by “Lawyers have had a seat at the executive table for a long
keeping work in-house. Equally as important, she now feels time. What is changing is our expectation of leadership in gen-
equipped to communicate with others across the organization eral about fnancial literacy.”
about fnancial issues: “I fnd that I am using the lawyer hat less Even though she earned an undergraduate commerce degree
and less, and the business hat more and more.” (and later a law degree) from the University of Alberta in the
That’s also the experience of Amgen’s Lennox, another CIC.C 1990s, McLeod returned to school while working, earning an
graduate. Unlike Palacio, he was familiar with fnancial concepts, executive MBA from Queen’s University in 2011.
having minored in economics at McGill University, completed “The biggest thing for me was getting back to a place where
the Canadian Securities Course and, early in his legal career, not only did I understand how information rolls into your f-
worked on mergers and acquisitions. Still, he wanted to hone his nancial statements but [to refresh] the ability to read the notes,”
management skills to deepen his ability to contribute to Amgen. she says. “Quite often as a lawyer I am not necessarily looking at
With his employer’s support, he pursued the certifcate. the numbers; I am looking at the notes for contingent liabilities,
“Having fnancial literacy is foundational. It is fundamental litigation notes about pending or in-process lawsuits, recent
to being a good in-house lawyer whether you are in the General share issues and basic liquidity.”
Counsel chair or you aspire to be there,” he says. As lawyers, For his part, Lennox is thrilled that moving in-house lets
he adds, “we are trained to be guardians of corporate integrity, him draw on his knowledge of law and business. “It’s fantastic,”
but you have to go beyond that and become a trusted adviser he says. “The idea behind leaving private practice was to say,
to your client.” ‘How can you get closer to the business?’ It is a different model
In the renewal of Amgen’s strategic plan through 2018, for and a different mindset altogether.” ❚
example, legal and fnancial considerations crop up across the
company, including the impact of new and expiring patents on
Jennifer Lewington is a writer based in Stratford, Ontario.

30 CCCa MaGazInE | SPRInG 2016 PRInTEMPS