It is a scenario many Canadian in-house lawyers know well. They show up for work to find out their company has been involved in a lawsuit in California, Puerto Rico, or Virginia, and they need to find a local lawyer immediately to tend to the case. Recently, it happened to Open Joist 2000 Inc., a Trois-Rivières, Que.-based manufacturer. It had been named in a dispute in California and needed legal counsel there immediately. The company did not go looking in California, however, it called up its firm in Montreal.

More and more consumers are opting for the environmentally friendly, all-natural, non-toxic, dolphin-safe, recyclable alternative. They do not want to waste money on ordinary “eco-junk” that has been tarted up with deceptive or unsubstantiated “green” marketing claims. To help consumers separate the green from the mundane, federal agencies in Canada and the United States have established rules to discourage corporate “greenwashing,” as the practice is known. 

I’ve had a chance to speak to many Canadian in-house lawyers over the past few months, and have come to understand the economic recovery everyone has been waiting for, as 2010 comes to an end, has yet to deliver the desired financial results to legal departments. According to the latest corporate counsel survey published in Canadian Lawyer, nearly 80 per cent of the 165 respondents say an improving economic climate had no effect on their legal spending. In addition, nearly 30 per cent have seen their legal budgets cut further last year.

Any time Alberta and Quebec are on the same side of an argument against the rest of Canada’s provinces, it tends to attract attention. So when both provinces promised to make constitutional challenges following the delivery of a draft national securities act in May, it added fuel to the discussion, which has been ongoing for decades, but is now ramping up to completion.

When Irving Pulp & Paper Ltd. rolled out a new measure to help ensure workplace safety at its kraft pulp mill in Saint John, N.B., in February 2006, the company was aware of the potentially catastrophic impact a serious accident at the heavy industrial facility could have on employees, the surrounding community, and the environment. So Irving decided to roll out its “policy on alcohol and other drug use,” which would see employees in safety-sensitive positions subjected to random alcohol testing using a calibrated breathalyzer.

With the Canadian financial and banking sector now working in an increasingly complex legislative and regulatory environment, corporate counsel find themselves moving past the traditional role of trusted adviser and into the position of risk managers. Indeed, says BMO Financial Group general counsel Simon A. Fish, managing risk is a core part of his bank’s business model.

The way most economists see it, the sports industry should be immune to recession. The general wisdom goes that even in hard times, people will pay to see their favourite team, but in a changing landscape where much of the growth relies on sponsorship contracts, athletes’ public image, or the right contractual agreements — things can quickly become complicated. And while larger franchises might be able to ride the economic roller-coaster more easily, smaller teams face harder times.

Stock options are a common component of employee compensation packages, but they bring some tricky issues when it comes to termination of employment. Employers are increasingly being challenged by allegations that wrongfully dismissed employees are entitled to damages on account of unexercised stock options. The value of stock-option liability often dwarfs the damages that flow from lack of notice of termination.

The discussion on everything related to Canada’s proposed national securities regulator has heated up — from where it should be headquartered to whether Ottawa even has a constitutional right to take over regulating securities from the provinces. Each party involved in this debate has its own priorities. The provinces are trying to protect what they see as their rights, local jobs, and income streams. The federal government wants a more streamlined process. And both sides say they want to protect the interests of the business community and the public at large.

 

As Canada looks to be one of the first countries in the developed world to see an end to the recession, and businesses start to breathe a little easier, some changes implemented during the recession to make things more efficient are here to stay, say participants at the Canadian Lawyer InHouse/Association of Corporate Counsel roundtable.