Roy has officially stepped into the role of chief legal counsel, after a transition period
Shara Roy officially stepped into the role of chief legal counsel on July 1, following the retirement of Doris Stamml who retired in June after 34 years with the firm.
Roy gradually transitioned into the role over a six month period, during which she worked closely with Stamml to learn the intricacies of the position.
“The transition has been great,” says Roy. “Having that time really allowed me to get to know the stakeholders in the business, and to figure out what was working and what wasn’t working within the legal department, and what changes might be helpful.”
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Roy is new to the in-house counsel world, having joined from Lenczner Slaght where she spent 10 years as a partner, so she was keen to learn as much as possible from Stamml during the transition phase. She notes that there are many differences between the external and internal counsel role.
“As external counsel, I always felt like I needed to have the answers, but as general counsel, really the way to lead is to help others find the solution, as opposed to presenting it yourself,” she says. “I Noticed in meetings that Doris would sit back and listen and ask pointed questions. She didn’t feel intimidated about asking some basic questions and some very difficult questions, so that was a great example to see and learn from.”
The 15-person legal department is a trusted group within the EY business, so Roy has no immediate plans to expand the team. However, she is examining incremental changes to reduce barriers to the business accessing the legal team and the services they need. She is currently considering different AI and automation options to help reduce barriers and empower the business.
One of Roy’s key goals in the early stages of her new role has been learning and understanding the contractual and transactional side of the business. As a litigator in her former role, she is already well positioned to handle the litigation, compliance and regulatory side of the business. She has also been working closely with other senior members of the team to determine how they can better serve the business.
“We want to be able to reach into the business and help them before they realise there is a legal problem, so we can help them in their negotiations, and through the lifetime of the contract,” says Roy. She hopes to start rolling out this new initiative soon with the help of a project manager who recently joined the team.
Roy is passionate about diversity, equity and inclusion, having spearheaded many DEI initiatives at Lenczner Slaght, so she plans to continue on this path at EY by working on a number of programs to enhance the firm’s focus on inclusivity. This includes supporting EY’s initiatives around Indigenous peoples, and working on EY’s partnership programs with the United Way.
As a member of the executive committee, Roy has a front row seat to the leadership at EY which allows her to ensure that legal is supporting the entire business.
“Because of the longstanding relationship that the lawyers have with partners in the business, it’s very organic,” she says. “We really want to encourage the business to see legal as a partner.” As the business continue to grow, Roy wants to ensure that all new employees feel comfortable reaching out to legal, so she is looking at introducing a more systematic way of reaching those who need help.