Canadian General Counsel of the Year / Chef des Affaires Juridiques de l’Année
(selected by CGCA Advisory Board)
The CGCA Advisory Board will be responsible for nominating and selecting the recipient of the 2013 Canadian General Counsel of the Year Award.
In selecting the Canadian General Counsel of the Year, our advisory board looks for excellence, the ability to deal with complexity across both issues and jurisdictions and, an irrefutable sure-handedness in dealing with whatever challenges are faced. In choosing one person to be honoured above all others, our board looks most carefully at the role each candidate played in their company’s overall health and well-being.
Our Canadian General Counsel of the Year winner represents the very best of what this profession stands for.
Supported by: 
Lifetime Achievement / Réalisation exceptionnelle
nominate
To find our Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient, our Advisory Board looks for a senior member of the in-house bar, one who has made a real difference –– both within their own company and in-house department, as well as with the external counsel who have worked alongside them during their careers.
A Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient has the broadest possible range of accomplishments – the ability to run the complicated deals, the major litigation, the handling of governance issues as well as employment and regulatory matters. They will also have made a lasting contribution to their work community and the community at large within which their company operates. In short, they’ve done it all.
Supported by: 
Business Achievement / Accomplissement, stratégie d’affaires
nominate
The Business Achievement category recognizes that the transition from lawyer to senior executive directing a corporation is a difficult one.
Our judges seek to identify a practicing lawyer who has successfully made that leap, and who has gone on to excel amongst the champions of industry. The award recipient in this category is traditionally someone who is no longer a full time practicing GC but has demonstrated the ability to both set and implement the overall strategy and success of the division or company’s business.
Supported by: 
Deal Making / Transaction d’envergure
nominate
Judges will be looking for evidence of innovation in the transaction and how it affected the structure or outcome of the deal; overall complexity; how the nominee managed the cross-jurisdictional issues where appropriate, and management of both internal and external teams.
Supported by: 
Litigation Management / Gestion de Litige
nominate
Judges will be looking for evidence of hands on management of external advisers; how decisions made in legal strategy underpinned the company’s brand; and where appropriate, how the nominee managed multi-jurisdictional issues.
Supported by: 
Mid Market Excellence / Excellence, Petites et Moyennes Entreprises
nominate
Judges will be looking beyond management of legal issues for evidence of the role the nominee plays in developing and implementing corporate strategy; his or her participation in key negotiations as a representative of the company with decision-making authority; management of legal and other risks; and the supervision of internal and external counsel teams. Eligible companies will be limited to those public and private companies with a market capitalization under $2.5 billion.
Supported by: 
Social Responsibility / Responsabilité sociale
nominate
The Social Responsibility award will recognize the law department with a sustained commitment to making a difference in their community through the promotion of pro bono or diversity initiatives (or both). In an increasingly global marketplace the Advisory Board will seek to highlight and reward companies whose legal departments are helping their community through their pro bono and diversity efforts.
Supported by:
Tomorrow’s Leader / Conseiller Juridique d’Avenir
nominate
Seeking to highlight and encourage a leader of the general counsel bar of tomorrow in his/her growth and development, judges will be looking for counsel that has been called to a Canadian Bar for ten years or less (from 2002 or later). Nominated counsel will not only demonstrate superior legal capability but also demonstrate great leadership through actions and attitude when facing significant transactions or litigation that affects the business.
Supported by: 
Finalist Reception hosted by: 
