MANAGING an EFFECTIVE CORPORATE LAW DEPARTMENT Positioning Your Department for Peak Performance
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3rd MANAGING AN EFFECTIVE CORPORATE LAW DEPARTMENT Positioning your department for peak performance “10/10” “Practical & engaging!” November 17 & 18, 2008, Calgary participating organizations Aramark Canada Ltd. Borden Ladner Gervais LLP Canadian Hydro Developers Inc. Course Leader Howard Catalyst Consulting Richard G. Kaufman, Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP Stock, Fasken Shell Canada Limited Catalyst Martineau Consulting DuMoulin LLP who should attend In-house legal counsel Vice presidents of legal affairs Corporate secretaries Compliance and regulatory affairs directors Steven A. Colin P. Prisco, MacDonald, course highlights Aramark Borden Ladner Canada Ltd. Gervais LLP • Building and retaining your in-house team • Negotiating legal service agreements • Managing expenses of the legal department • Effective budgeting for the in-house legal department • Managing in-house talent and career development • Protecting and leveraging your intellectual capital Ann Hughes, David R. Brinley, • Containing the cost of litigation Canadian Hydro Shell Canada • Best practices in outside counsel relations Developers Inc. Limited FACULTY COURSE LEADER RICHARD G. STOCK and prior to a successful 24-year career with Energy Ltd., involved in matters including that company, he had a corporate/commercial acquisition and divestiture of oil and gas as- Richard G. Stock, M.A., FCIS, CMC, is the practice with a well-regarded Montreal-based sets. Colin serves on a number of Boards of founding partner of Catalyst Consulting. His law firm. Howard lectures extensively on a va- Directors and is currently Chair of the Calgary practice is focused on corporate / government riety of substantive legal matters, law depart- Olympic Development Association. law departments and law firms. He has com- ment management, environmental matters and pleted more than 500 consulting engagements ethics issues. ANN HUGHES in Canada, the U.S., Australia and Europe. He has been working with lawyers for more than 30 STEVEN A. PRISCO Ann Hughes, Corporate Secretary for Cana- years. A cross-section of law department clients dian Hydro Developers, Inc, has practiced law includes the Attorney General of Ontario, Bell Steve Prisco is Assistant General Counsel and for over 30 years. Semi-retired from her role Canada / BCE Inc., BC Hydro, Bruce Power, a member of the Management Committee at as Executive Vice President, her background CAE, City of Montreal, CP Ships, Fairmont Ho- ARAMARK Canada Ltd. He is responsible for includes private practice, primarily in the area of tels and Resorts, Insurance Corporation of BC, providing legal support to all of ARAMARK’s corporate and securities law, and work with cor- Justice Canada, Petro-Canada, Royal & SunAl- Canadian operations, including over 1000 porations in a variety of industries as corporate liance, Shell Canada, TD Bank Financial Group, client components, 400 supplier relationships counsel. Always being mindful of the resource and The Walt Disney Corporation. and dozens of franchises. His practice can be constraints faced by smaller companies, she as diverse as advising on a new acquisition, has introduced initiatives to improve company investigating a public private partnership op- HR practices, communications and systems portunity or negotiating an agreement with a and standards that facilitate a continuous im- CO-LECTURERS First Nation’s group. provement approach to corporate governance. HOWARD KAUFMAN COLIN MACDONALD DAVID R. BRINLEY Howard Kaufman is Counsel to Fasken Martin- Colin MacDonald is a Partner and Chair of the David R. Brinley is Vice President, General eau DuMoulin LLP, with a primary focus on cli- National Government Relations practice group Counsel and Corporate Secretary for Shell ent services including building new corporate in the Calgary office of Borden Ladner Gervais Canada Limited. David has been with Shell client relationships and enhancing existing LLP. He primarily practices in the commer- 18 years and, prior to joining Shell Canada in ones in all the firm’s Canadian offices. Howard cial area with an emphasis on government 2006, he was General Counsel to Showa Shell was previously Vice-President, Legal & Exter- relations and competition law. He previously in Japan and Regional Counsel, E&P Asia nal Affairs and Secretary of Xerox Canada Inc., served as in-house counsel for Canterra Pacific in Singapore. COURSE PROGRAM MANAGING WORKFLOWS AND WORKLOADS BUILDING AND RETAINING YOUR IN-HOUSE TEAM Today’s top legal departments are moving away from strictly provid- One of the most important challenges faced by general counsel is the ing support services and are becoming more strategically focused, hiring of high-quality in-house staff. The decision to how best staff your providing added strategic value to their organization. This discussion in-house legal department depends on a number of issues, such as the will focus on: types of legal services required by the organization, the corporate cul- ture, the total amount of legal work required by the enterprise and the · Alignment with strategic business priorities decision to provide legal services in-house or through outside counsel. · Demand forecasting This session will look at best practices in building and retaining your · Workload and workflow balance in-house team, including: · Barriers to change · Attracting, motivating and retaining expert in-house legal staff with non-financial, incentive-based work · How to best structure a team · Defining the roles and functions: examining service delivery and costs · Establishing the structure and position of the corporate legal function · Managing your staff: monitoring, assessing and streamlining procedures and processes MOTIVATING YOUR STAFF: MAXIMIZING Managing a legal department is difficult enough, but when you have to PERFORMANCE OF THE IN-HOUSE STAFF manage complex issues in a small legal department and wear many dif- Corporate law departments are facing rising workloads and more dead- ferent hats, the task requires a great deal of creativity and a keen sense lines. That is why it is essential that leaders know best practices for of prioritizing. This discussion details best practices in managing the pushing their staff to top performance. This session will examine how myriad of legal issues in a smaller legal department. to motivate and manage staff to sustain productivity levels, minimize turnover and maintain morale. · Risk management: determining the company’s risk tolerance and getting it right · How to maintain a strong and cohesive legal team: · You can’t be in all places at all times: determining core functions day-to-day management of the team and maximizing resources to perform those functions · Best practices for maximizing performance: · Relationship building: working with key people in the keeping your team motivated and involved organization and establishing their trust · The particular challenges of managing in-house lawyers · Getting best value from outside lawyer: when to bring · Assessing information them in and when you can handle it internally MEASURING PERFORMANCE: DEMONSTRATING MANAGING THE COST AND PERFORMANCE VALUE IN YOUR LEGAL DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL COUNSEL Measuring law department success has become an important ele- Law departments no longer need to justify their value in corporate set- ment of managing a legal department. How can you demonstrate the tings. Yet, they must manage workloads, workflows, costs and legal talent value of your in-house legal department in the face of reduced revenue with more focus and results than ever before. Part of the solution depends expectations, downsizing and belt-tightening? Taking the time to as- on innovation in working with law firms. This means doing business differ- sess and implement tools and procedures will save you both time and ently and calls for predictability in legal services delivery despite volatile money. This discussion will examine ways to measure the department’s business and organizational environments. This session will focus on: productivity and quality and explore options to make your legal depart- ment even more successful in the future. · Why law firms and law departments always see legal economics differently · Establishing a framework for performance measurement in your · The business case for in-sourcing and co-counselling legal department using measures that support your performance · Service standards for law firms · Adopting best practices for evaluating the efforts of your · Competitive processes in cost management internal counsel · Financial incentives for productivity in pricing legal work · Implementing the most effective communication methods to · Managing escalation in law firm pricing facilitate acceptance of your performance measurement programs · Cost effective use of senior and junior associates · Performing a cost vs. value analysis · Saving 20% in the costs of external counsel after the discounts are in · Using the analysis to determine and justify staffing levels · Understanding where to invest resources to maximize the OUTSIDE COUNSEL RELATIONS: value adding facet of the legal department A LAW FIRM’S PERSPECTIVE Most legal departments at some point must engage the assistance of MANAGING EXPENSES OF THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT outside counsel. No matter the reason, there are certain steps to follow Most organizations spend significant dollars on legal expenses, both in- at the beginning of this process that could benefit you at the end. Key ternally and externally, and therefore these expenses must be managed