James Bond would no doubt approve of the vehicle Olivier Chouc found himself riding in as general counsel for Canadian National Railway. It seemed like an ordinary pickup truck when Chouc first climbed in, but he soon learned it had unusual capabilities.
 

It was William Shakespeare who advised that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Unfortunately, this age-old wisdom does not seem to apply to a law degree. In the United States and many other countries, law graduates get a JD, but in Canada, it’s called an LLB. It’s the same thing, except for one problem — in some circles, an LLB has a slightly sour stench.

General counsel for TD Bank Christopher Montague is in the thick of an $8-billion pending acquisition of U.S.-based Commerce Bank. How does he keep his cool? He says the key to his success is to take his work seriously, but not to take himself too seriously.

In-house counsel for Canadian-based Bank of Montreal and its U.S. subsidiary Harris Bank say the key to success is having good people on both sides of the border who work together. While U.S. and Canadian law is sometimes similar, it’s often quite different, and BMO counsel say it’s best to rely on one another, depending on the jurisdictional matter at hand.

As general counsel for software provider SAP Canada, Barry Fisher has to remain at the frontier of technology and privacy law. In sharp contrast, he says his background in philosophy gives him the breadth of perspective he needs to avoid becoming a two-handed lawyer.

Overseeing a large in-house legal team of 40 that continues to expand is a big job. But First Canadian Title president and COO Patrick Chetcuti says he works a “normal” business day and says employee satisfaction is a paramount goal.

 

Of all the challenges faced by corporate counsel, one is particularly daunting. It’s the nightmare of class action lawsuits. Increasingly, plaintiff lawyers from coast to coast are turning up the heat, and the odds of a corporation getting targeted are good and getting better. But Canada has no national class action clearing centre to deal with the chaos of multiple suits in multiple jurisdictions, and distil them into one action, in one place. That means corporations often find themselves putting out fires across the country.