How a leading law firm is innovating by digitizing over 15,000 minute books: September 14th (12pm-1pm ET)

Minute books underpin every corporation's regulatory requirements. Beyond the legislative requirements to keep them, well maintained minute books enable corporations to prevent disputes by delineating ownership and voting rights; allow access for investor and purchaser due diligence of their structures and lets professionals such as lawyers and accountants to provide them efficient and accurate advice.

Historically, minute books have been paper based. However they are being digitized at a rapid pace and this trend has accelerated during the pandemic. Digitization of minute books has multiple benefits: they are easier to update and maintain; enable more efficient and effective collaboration and make the process of preparing and amending them faster and more accurate.

For law firms focused on corporate matters, having a digitization strategy in place for minute books is critical in a competitive marketplace. In this 60 minute discussion, Karen Tuschak, Denton's Canada Director of Paraprofessional Services and Kirsten Hansen, Director, Delivery Services, Athennian (chaired by Andrew Bowyer) will discuss how Dentons will be digitizing their minute books and how they are utilizing a technology platform to maintain them.

During the session they will cover the importance of designing, developing and implementing a change strategy across a law firm and leveraging technology to support this. And the benefits that will be delivered to the firm and its clients.

Speakers:

• Karen Tuschak, Canadian Director of Paraprofessional Services, Dentons

• Kirsten Hansen, Director, Delivery Success, Athennian

Chair: Andrew Bowyer, Founder + CEO, ADB Insights

Accreditation:

Law Society of Ontario: This program contains 1 hour of Professionalism Content.
Law Society of BC: This program is accredited for 1 hour of CPD.

How leading law firms are delivering results through automation:September 23rd (12 - 1pm ET)

The acceleration of legal process automation is one that promises to have a significant impact on law firms’ efficiency and competitive advantage. Legal process automation centres around the application of tools such as document automation, artificial intelligence and others to automate increasingly complex legal tasks. Some examples of where legal process automation is being applied are contract drafting and automation, contract management and legal research.

On this 60 minute webinar, our speakers will review the latest drivers, trends and technology when it comes to legal process automation. They will look at specific use cases for its application and the importance of proper design, integration and leveraging managed services to ensure success. They will also review common challenges faced by law firms focused on process automation and how they can be addressed. And - finally - they will consider the business case for advanced process automation in law firms.

Speakers:

Andrea Alliston, Knowledge & Practice Innovation, Fasken

Andrew Terrett, National Director, Legal Technology & Service Delivery, Borden Ladner Gervais

Jill Moore, Counsel for Risk, Burness Paull (UK)

James Quinn, Co-Founder + CEO, Clarilis

Chair: Jason Moyse, Director, Autologyx

Accreditation:

Law Society of Ontario: This program contains 1 hour of Professionalism Content.
Law Society of BC: This program is accredited for 1 hour of CPD.

How is the Canadian Class Actions Landscape Evolving? ( 2 Part Series - October 6th + October 20th: 12-1.30pm ET)

Canada’s class action landscape is evolving rapidly. Drivers include the evolving impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and evolving changes to privacy laws; emerging changes related to the certification process in jurisdictions; the increasing importance of technology and evolving market dynamics for law firms and innovative approaches to funding class action lawsuits.

To map these shifts and their broader importance, the Canadian Legal Innovation Forum is producing a two-part webinar series focused on the Canadian class actions landscape.

Accreditation:

Law Society of Ontario: This program contains 2 hours of Professionalism Content.
Law Society of BC: This program is accredited for 3 hours of CPD.

Part One: The Canadian class actions landscape - drivers and trends (October 6th: 12-1.30pm ET)

The Canadian class actions landscape is shifting when it comes to the interpretation and application of related laws. Rulings from the Supreme Court of Canada, changes to the certification process in Ontario and the debate about class actions versus mass torts all are drivers of significant change. Broader drivers include the impact from the Covid-19 pandemic and evolving privacy rules. These are increasing the risks facing organizations in sectors such as long-term care, technology, insurance, transportation and government. In our first session, our panelists will review the key drivers and trends in class action law and the expected outcomes in the near to medium term.

Speakers:

Craig Lockwood, Partner, Osler

Pierre-Jérôme Bouchard, Investment Manager / Legal Counsel, Omni Bridgeway

Sabrina Lombardi, Lawyer, McKenzie Lake

Chair: Kevin McLaren, Partner, Hammerco Lawyers

Part Two: Innovation in class actions (October 20th: 12-1.30pm ET)

Drivers impacting the Canadian legal sector as a whole - such as technology, the rise of new players and financial innovation - are also extending to the class actions space. Technology platforms are emerging harnessing the power of AI and machine learning providing powerful tools to help lawyers get an edge. New law firm entrants are emerging from shifting legal market dynamics. And litigation finance is changing how lawsuits get funded. On this panel, our speakers will focus on how  technology, legal market dynamics and finance are all contributing to innovation in the class actions space.

Speakers:

Paul Rand, Chief Investment Officer - Canada, Omni Bridgeway

Jessie Hoerman, Founder/CEO, Simply Convert

Anand Ablack, VP, Business Development, Legal, MedChart

Kevin McLaren, Partner, Hammerco Lawyers

Chair: Aaron Wenner, Founder + CEO, CiteRight

In association with:

Understanding legal project management: October 12th (12-1pm ET)

As the complexity of matters increases and the need for budget certainty becomes more critical, law firms are embracing the benefits derived from legal project management. Law firms are increasingly under pressure to deliver value and be more efficient and having sophisticated project management teams and processes can be a key differentiator.  To service client needs now in a complex operating environment, law firms need to meld business, technology and knowledge management vertically to align with the work done by lawyers  - all of which are underpinned by a sophisticated LPM strategy.

In this 60 minute webinar, our speakers will focus on the key drivers and trends in legal project management.

In the webinar, our speakers will consider:

• Best practices for LPM to better manage client portfolios and matters.

• Examples of practice areas where LPM is being applied successfully (i.e. complex litigation, transactions).

• How does having an LPM function add value to clients and help law firms gain competitive advantage?

Speakers:

Mary Munro, National Director of Paraprofessional Services, Borden Ladner Gervais

Emily Wesson, Associate Director - Legal Project Management, Norton Rose Fulbright

Christina Balanescu, Senior Manager - Process Improvement and Project Management, Lenczner Slaght

Chair:

Amir Reshef, Co-founder and CEO, dealcloser

Accreditation:

Law Society of Ontario: This program contains 1 hour of Professionalism Content.
Law Society of BC: This program is accredited for 1 hour of CPD.

CANLIF InFocus Legal Department Summit: How can legal departments address operational and innovation challenges effectively?

(2 Part Series - October, 28th + November, 4th @ 12pm ET)

The Canadian Legal Innovation Forum and LawyersInHouse.com are launching a virtual series focused on legal departments' operations and innovation strategies.

Our recent legal department innovation report (July, 2021) highlighted many common challenges faced by legal departments in these areas. To expand on these learnings from the report, our series will outline key challenges legal departments face when it comes to their operations and innovation strategies. And review concrete ways legal department leaders are addressing them to deliver change and add value to their organizations.

Another goal of the series is to create a platform for innovative in-house practitioners to connect with their peers, share information and experiences and to collaborate to solve common challenges.

To ensure that the content is focused on specific audiences, the virtual series will be in two parts. Part 1 will focus on larger legal departments (above 5 lawyers) and Part 2 on smaller legal departments (5 lawyers or fewer). 

* Note: the legal department summit registration is limited to in-house lawyers.

—————————————————————————————————————

FORMAT

• 2 x 1.5 hour sessions (October 28th + November 4th)
  

• Sessions will include panel discussions from legal department leaders addressing key challenges they are facing. Then, the panels will be followed by smaller working groups from the audience to have collaborative discussions on how best to approach these challenges.
  

-> Larger Legal Departments (> 5 lawyers) - October 28th @ 12pm ET
(VIEW RECORDING)

Speakers:

Will Ramjass, Director + Assistant General Counsel, McDonald’s Canada

Sara Chan, Associate General Counsel + Head of Legal Operations, Corus Entertainment

Cory Olson, Director of Planning and Operations for Legal Services, Telus

Megan Ostling, Legal Operations Manager, iManage

Chair: Christine Holmes, Founder + CEO, LawyersInHouse.com

-> Smaller Legal Departments (<5 lawyers) - November 4th @ 12pm ET
(VIEW RECORDING)

Speakers:

Marianne​ Bolhuis, General Counsel + Corporate Secretary, Canadian Olympic Committee

Alice Davidson, Chief Legal Officer, Mogo

Lorne O’Reilly, Lead Counsel, The Dow Chemical Company

Catherine Lau, General Counsel, MEC

————————————————————————————————————-

CONTENT

The content of the discussions will focus on the following areas:

• Managing budgets and demonstrating ROI to other parts of the organization

• How to move from a lawyer mindset to an executive mindset to add value to the organization

• How can in-house lawyers be agents for change in their organization and the legal profession?

• Identifying the right technology to solve the right problem

• Partnering effectively with external service providers and how to deliver value with fewer resources. 

Accreditation:

Law Society of Ontario: This program contains 3 hours of Professionalism Content.
Law Society of BC: This program is accredited for 3 hours of CPD. 

CANLIF InFocus Risk & Compliance Series: Financial Services
(2 Part Series: November 3rd + November 17th, 12.00-1.30pm ET)

The Canadian Legal Innovation Forum is producing an online series on risk and the evolving role of the compliance function in financial institutions. In a complex operating environment, these institutions are facing a myriad of risks: everything from changing market realities, regulation and cyber-resilience. As a critical line of defence, it falls upon the compliance function to assess these risks and create robust strategies to manage them.

The purpose of the series is threefold. To provide Canadian compliance practitioners with insights on drivers and context of risks facing organizations. Present examples of how compliance departments are leveraging people, processes and technology to manage them. And share best practices on how compliance practitioners can define, develop and implement effective compliance strategies in their organizations.

Structure:

• 2 part series - November 3rd + November 17th

• 90 minute presentation format per session with 3-4 expert presenters from the compliance/risk management space

• Users will be able to access the series for free by registering their details

• Series will be accredited for relevant CPD, CLE credits

• Series will be available live or in archived format via the series website

• Audience: Compliance Officers, Risk Managers, Legal Counsel, GRC Experts

Accreditation:

Law Society of Ontario: This program contains 2 hours of Professionalism Content.
Law Society of BC: This program is accredited for 2 hours of CPD.

Part 1 - Buy-Side: How can organizations define, develop and implement an effective compliance strategy? (November 3rd: 12.00 - 1.30pm ET)

In part one of our two part series, our speakers will provide practitioner views on how to define, develop and implement an effective compliance strategy across the lines of defence on the buy-side of financial institutions. They’ll review the current key drivers of operational, market and

regulatory risk and how compliance groups are responding in kind. And, they will provide the audience with practical insights on how to get started or refine an existing compliance strategy.

Highlights will include:

• How can a holistic approach be developed for a pan-organizational compliance strategy to help break out of the silo trap? How can compliance risks facing organizations be assessed?

• Determining applicable use cases and matching them with the right technology.

• Building the right team to implement an effective compliance strategy. 

• Developing a conduct and compliance-focused culture, with clear accountabilities, across the organization.

Contemporary challenges facing the buy-side and common approaches to them:

> Navigating evolutions in sales practices

> Alternative investments - best practices monitoring portfolios composed of alternative investments

> Emerging risks - what are the emerging risks for buy-side compliance  professionals on the horizon and how can they address them?

Speakers:

Nadine Milne, Chief Compliance Officer, Portland Investment Counsel

Jonathan Moncrieff, Global Chief Compliance Officer, Fiera Capital

Jacqueline Sanz, Managing Director (Canada), Protiviti

Pam Thadani, Chief Compliance Officer, Capital International Asset Management

Chair: Gary Kalaci, CEO, Alexa Translations

Part 2 - Sell-Side: How can organizations define, develop and implement an effective compliance strategy? (November 17th, 12.00 -1.30pm ET)

In part two of our series, our speakers will provide practitioner views on how to define, develop and implement an effective compliance strategy across the lines of defence on the sell-side of financial institutions. They’ll review the current key drivers of operational, market and regulatory risk and how compliance groups are responding in kind. And, they will provide the audience with practical insights on how to get started or refine an existing compliance strategy.

Highlights will include:

• How can a holistic approach be developed for a pan-organizational compliance strategy to help break out of the silo trap? How can compliance risks facing organizations be assessed?

• Determining applicable use cases and matching them with the right technology.
  
  

• Building the right team to implement an effective compliance strategy.

• Developing a conduct and compliance-focused culture, with clear accountabilities, across the organization.
  
  

Contemporary challenges facing the sell-side and common approaches to them:

         > How compliance specialists are responding to enhanced CFR rules
- Connection to suitability and the impact of KYP for institutions and their advisors

         > Managing evolutions in client disclosure requirements
- Conflicts, fee and role disclosure, privacy and cyber-resilience

> Navigating AML risks and reporting requirements surrounding virtual assets

Speakers:

Bill Donegan, Chief Compliance Officer, Manulife Securities

Kuno Tucker, Chief Compliance Officer, ATB Capital Markets

John Pepe, Resident Chief Compliance + Regulatory Officer, Proofpoint

Chair: Jacqueline Sanz, Managing Director (Canada), Protiviti

Managing complexity in the M&A review process: November 9th (12-1pm ET)

In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, deal activity in Canada has been accelerating throughout 2021 with record volumes and deal sizes. However, navigating both domestic and cross-border deals is becoming increasingly complex particularly when it comes to areas such as managing regulatory requirements and requests.

In order to get deals across the line in a complex operating environment having a robust review process is critical. On this 60 minute webinar - our expert speakers will outline the current context in terms of emerging complexity in deals, review external drivers (i.e. regulation) and outline best practices in navigating the review and completion process.

Key highlights in the webinar will include:

• The legal context. How deals are evolving and their impact on the review and completion process.

• Review of the key drivers of role of regulation in M&A - responding to supplementary information requests (SIRs): responding to Section 11s; working with regulators

• How practitioners are designing and implementing strategies to manage risks in deals: streamlining processes, managing production process efficiently , working with third parties to deliver results.

  
  Accreditation:
  
  Law Society of Ontario: This program contains 1 hour of Professionalism Content.
  Law Society of BC: This program is accredited for 1 hour of CPD

Speakers:

Alysha Manji-Knight, Associate, Davies

Maura Grossman, eDiscovery Consultant + Research Professor, University of Waterloo

Carolyn Anger, Senior Director, Consilio

Mastering investigations: delivering results with advanced processes and technology: November 18th (12-1pm ET)

Navigating investigations has become increasingly complex for organizations. Drivers include a permanent shift to a hybrid work environment prompted by Covid-19 pandemic. The continued acceleration of new technologies and methods of communication within organizations. And greater regulatory scrutiny, rules and fines across jurisdictions and sectors.

To navigate this complex landscape, organizations need to have sophisticated approaches underpinned by people, process and technology. They include ensuring that robust compliance frameworks are in place; centred around prevention, detection and response mechanisms.  And, when investigations do arise, effectively balancing legal and practical considerations. These apply to areas such as preservation of evidence, privilege, external communications and working across jurisdictions.

On this 60 minute webinar, our expert speakers will review the investigations landscape's key drivers and trends. Best practices in how organizations can anticipate and manage the investigations process. And the role that advanced technology and external providers play in supporting it.

Speakers:

Monica De Martin, Director - Counsel, Internal Investigations, Société Générale (New York)

Imran Ahmad, Partner - Head of Technology, Co-Head of Information Governance, Privacy and Cybersecurity, Norton Rose Fulbright

Jamie Pytel, Founder & Senior Lawyer, Kingsgate Legal

David Meadows, Senior Managing Director, FTI Consulting

Chair: Michael Lalande, Senior Director, eDiscovery and Managed Review, FTI Consulting

Accreditation:

Law Society of Ontario: This program contains 1 hour of Professionalism Content.
Law Society of BC: This program is accredited for 1 hour of CPD.

The new risk: how are organizations managing emerging risks in a complex operating environment - November 30th (12-1pm ET)

A core component of legal departments' remit is risk management for their organizations. As their organizations adjust to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and other drivers, how legal teams and their advisors address a myriad of emerging risks is critical. During this 60 minute session, our speakers will review the landscape of emerging risks facing organizations and how they are developing strategies to address them.

Discussion points will include:

- Types of risks emerging for organizations: ESG, cyber security, compliance, regulation, employees

- In the face of these risks, how lawyers are working with organizations to mitigate emerging risk and add value

- How leading legal departments and their third party partners are innovating when it comes to people, process and technology to manage organizational risk

Speakers

John Vellone, Partner, Borden Ladner Gervais

Jennifer Barbosa, Director, Enterprise Risk Management Services, BC Lottery Corporation

Sanjay Khanna, Partner, NOW Partners

Megan Ostling, Legal Operations Manager, iManage

Chair: Lynne Charbonneau, Lawyer | Corporate Director | Tribunal Judge

Accreditation:

Law Society of Ontario: This program contains 1 hour of Professionalism Content.
Law Society of BC: This program is accredited for 1 hour of CPD.