IN HOUSE C
E COUNSEL
N
TOP STORY
DRIVEN TO
FINISH FIRST
Story By Christopher Guly
Time is tight for Lon Knox. As the only
in-house lawyer at Trent University in
Peterborough, Ont., Knox does about
three-quarters of the legal work himself
in administrative, corporate-commercial
and real estate law, thanks to a relationship with Peterborough’s largest law firm,
which for five years has been a clearing-house for Trent’s outside legal services.
Lockington Lawless Fitzpatrick (LLF)
LLP primarily handles standard real estate transactions, such as commercial
leasing and developmental approvals, on
behalf of the university. On other files,
the firm determines whether it has the
appropriate expertise. If it doesn’t, LLF
liaises with Toronto-based national firm
McMillan LLP, which typically takes
over when it comes to tax work, intellectual property files or cases involving
litigation. Trent also regularly deals with
one other firm, Hicks Morley Hamilton
Stewart Storie LLP, which handles labour law issues.
Ultimately, in-house lawyers are in
a “car race,” says Barry Fisher, vice-president and general counsel with SAP
Canada Inc. For Fisher, Knox and their
in-house counterparts, working with a
wide variety of stakeholders is analogous
to assembling and heading up the race’s
pit crew, with everyone responsible for
their particular area—a specialized part
of the general whole.
“The CEO is driving and the board is
providing the GPS,” Fisher says. “The
legal department’s job is to ensure its
engine component works as flawlessly
as possible. It depends on its own law-
yers and outside law firms as mechanics
to understand the legal construction of
that engine, and try to avoid accidents
and not just repair the car after an ac-
cident happens.”
For Knox, LLF negotiated a discounted
rate with McMillan on behalf of Trent,
and as a value-add regularly reviews ac-
counts before they’re submitted at no
cost to the university.
