Page 14 - CCCA Magazine Winter 2017

{ FeatUre }

Chasing

tHe

Money

gCs move needle on lAW
depArtments As A Cost Centre

By Jim Middlemiss

oel Schuster is not your typical in-house law-
yer. In addition to overseeing the usual legal
Jfunctions, such as compliance and corporate
commercial matters, Schuster, Chief Legal Of-
fcer, Senior Vice President and Corporate Sec-
retary at Avigilon Corporation in Vancouver, has
responsibility for bringing in revenues.
He is in charge of licensing the patent portfolio
at the fast-growing Avigilon, which provides video
security and analytic solutions.
That means the legal department has its own
proft and loss statement, and the division sets a
budget on how much it expects to earn from the
740 patents in its portfolio.
“Our revenues blend with the rest of the compa-
ny’s revenue,” he explains. “We’re here to contrib-
ute what we can. It does help that we can bring in
revenues. It makes the budgeting process easier.”

14 CCCa MaGazine | WinTer 2017 hiVer