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term, provides similar advantages. Take Jonathan Cullen, Vice
It makes you Jump a grade.
It made me more ConsCIous President of Legal Affairs and General Counsel at Pfzer Canada
oF HoW my legal servICe Was Inc. His company has a formal secondment program for the
legal division called “Propel.” He describes it as a fexible pro-
goIng to Be used.
 gram that can cover a part-time opportunity or include a larger
Nicholas Cerminaro, Director of Legal
full-time role. It also crosses geography.
Services, Bombardier
In Cullen’s case, he joined Pfzer’s global trademarks oper-
ations, which work out of the New York head offce. It was a
“virtual position,” where he split his time overseeing aspects of
Lawyers identify four key benefts to in-house departments that the Canadian business while focusing on the global trademark
use secondments: portfolio covering South America, Europe and Australia.
● Faster knowledge transfer It was also an opportunity for him to learn more about as-
● Greater staff retention and training pects of M&A, since Canada is not a market that sees a lot of
● The ability to fll staffng holes during peak periods that type of activity among the various pharma companies in
● A better understanding of the role and abilities of the corpo- the country.
rate law department within the organization As a Pfzer lawyer, he uses the services of the global trade-
mark division. The experience, he says, allowed him to see how
Knowledge Transfer that team functions, and how they manage their priorities and
In terms of knowledge transfer, “I think it is a very good thing requests for help. He called it his “aha” moment—“Suddenly I
for companies,” says Diego Pereira, Legal Counsel at TELUS realized I was not the only one asking for their help.”
Communications Company, who completed two secondments He took that learning experience back with him and incor-
while in private practice at Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt. One was porated it into his routine. “I became a much better internal
with a Canadian bank and the other was at TELUS. client for them.”
“They were very good experiences because I got to learn a
lot about how banks worked and how TELUS worked as well.” Improved Staff Retention
Lawyers from external frms who take on a secondment at In-house lawyers say one of the big challenges in corporate
their clients’ organizations say it makes them more informed law departments is providing staff with a variety of work and
and effcient when they go back to their frms and work on client opportunities to grow. A secondment program is one way to
fles. “It’s kind of like having a crash course in clients’ needs,” says do that.
Bombardier’s Cerminaro. “It makes you jump a grade. It made According to OSC’s Chandra, “It’s a wonderful way to let re-
me more conscious of how my legal service was going to be used.” ally good people experience different things they may be inter-
External lawyers are exposed to how a company operates, ested in without losing people.”
what is important to that company, and how external legal ad- Pfzer’s Cullen adds, “This kind of program is just one more
vice fts into the bigger picture. This is the company’s “secret tool in the manager’s toolkit to develop team members.”
sauce,” which lawyers in private practice seldom see. He says the goal of a corporate law department should be to
A secondment, Cerminaro says, accelerates learning and develop and nurture their talent and bring people along, and
“makes you a more effective lawyer. You’re getting somebody continuing education and training programs, while important,
who knows more about your business.” Without that exposure, only go so far. “You want to provide colleagues with develop-
he says, “it takes a long time to get that down.” ment opportunities beyond what they are normally able to
Pereira adds that external lawyers need to have a good un- come up with on their own.” Secondments, he says, present in-
derstanding of their clients and their clients’ business. “Sec- house legal managers an opportunity to “put our money where
ondments are an excellent opportunity for that. You get a our mouth is.”
much better understanding of policies and risk tolerance.”
That has payback when it comes to effciencies with external
legal providers. It’s a WonderFul Way to
He adds that a secondment “jump starts” external lawyers’ let really good people
knowledge of their clients. It can take “many, many years to ac- experIenCe dIFFerent tHIngs
quire the same internal law knowledge of a company if you are tHey may Be Interested In
working for it externally.” WItHout losIng people.
By the same token, an internal secondment, where a lawyer Swapna Chandra, Senior Legal Counsel,
Enforcement Branch, Ontario Securities Commission
transfers to a different legal role in the organization for a short 

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