In-house counsel are expected to provide legal advice — but nowadays that’s just the beginning. They’re also expected to add strategic value and advance the goals of the business.

If the Ontario Superior Court’s Feb. 24 ruling of Fairview Donut Inc. v. The TDL Group Corp. taught us one thing, it’s that good communication counts.

When we embarked on our View 2013 project I wondered how candid the in-house counsel we approached for the project would be with us about the challenges they face for the year ahead.

Illustration: Tara Hardy

Once the long-time general counsel of Barrick Gold Corp., Patrick Garver left the role of in-house a number of years ago but still keeps a keen eye on what’s happening in the class action universe. The now-senior adviser to a U.K.-based consulting firm says he has watched with interest as what happens south of the border increasingly influences the fate of companies in Canada. “I think if you’re a general counsel of a Canadian-based company your biggest risk from class action litigation still probably remains suits that originate in the United States as opposed to in Canada,” says Garver, who retired from Barrick in 2010 and is now with the Good Governance Group.

Illustration: Jeremy Bruneel

Martin Kratz is trying really hard not to be a party pooper.

The new chairman of the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association is looking ahead at the changing, evolving role of in-house counsel. And it’s his diverse background — in law and business, in Canada and abroad — that gives him a unique perspective on the topic.

When members of the northern Ontario Wahgoshig First Nation stumbled across an exploratory drilling team preparing to clear forest and bulldoze access routes on its traditional land in the spring of 2011, the work crew was unwilling to disclose whom they were working for.

Historically it’s been the norm for in-house counsel to bash the law firms they deal with when it comes to issues around billing or how they feel firm resources are managed on a file. Seminars and panel discussions at association functions for the in-house bar often feature in-house counsel telling tales of being billed too much for photocopies, junior lawyers, or any number of items they now consider off limits.

With the North American economy still stuck in low gear, debt crises continuing to wreak havoc in Europe, and growth in China’s gross domestic product dropping into the single digits, corporate Canada is keeping its belt tightly notched. Forget about adding staff: lean and flexible is today’s corporate mantra. At the same time, general counsel are thinking twice before they turn to legal firms where experienced partners charge $600 and more an hour.

When Douglas McLean set out to investigate options for streamlining electronic discovery (e-discovery) at TransCanada PipeLines Ltd., he didn’t fully appreciate what he was getting into.