Legal Values: Becoming an In-house Counsel

Quick Info
(3593T.03)  Seminar
Instructor(s)
L. Schwartz; Adjunct Professor
Fall
3 credit(s)  2 hour(s);
Presentation
There will be a heavy "practical playbook" orientation to the seminar and it is intended to have this seminar approved as a "praxicum" by the start of the academic year. More detail will be provided in the Summer Enrolment Guide (which Osgoode issues at the start of the opening of the drop/add period for fall term).
Upper Year Research & Writing Requirement
No
Praxicum
Yes

The in-house counsel generally works as an employee of a business, government entity, or other organization, overseeing other lawyers’ work in one’s department, reporting to a senior executive like the CEO, and often combining legal advisory work with being part of the overall business team. Much in-house legal work will involve assessment and response to legal risk, whether in terms of liability or ensuring due diligence is done to comply with various regulatory regimes applicable to the entity. Often, the senior in-house counsel (who is often called General Counsel) will select and then work with external counsel from private practice, especially if a legal matter is in need of dispute settlement. In what ways does the role of in-house counsel differ from the various forms of private practice? Are some skills and aptitudes of greater import in one lawyering context as compared to the other? How does one become an in-house counsel, and are there advisable ways to prepare for such a career or transitioning to it from private practice? Do inhouse counsel need to be more generalist or more specialized in their knowledge – or, perhaps, more of each in different ways? These and other questions will be explored in this seminar.

Method of Evaluation: TBD: consult the Summer Enrolment Guide for the combination of "praxicum" elements.