Associate General Counsel

Stikeman Elliott LLP is seeking a business-savvy lawyer with an analytical and strategic mindset to join our General Counsel Office as the Associate General Counsel.

The Associate General Counsel works closely with the General Counsel in providing strategic legal advice to firm leadership, including hands-on legal support in connection with business and commercial matters, enterprise risk management practices and initiatives, policy development and implementation, compliance matters and administration of professional obligations. The Associate General Counsel serves as a trusted advisor and business partner across the firm’s national and international offices.

Key Responsibilities

In collaboration with the General Counsel:

• Advise the leadership team on legal obligations and issues affecting the firm, its business and clients, and the legal industry


• Keep the Executive Committee and Managing Partners abreast of changes in legislation and case law affecting the firm, and recommend practical actions, policies, procedures and guidelines to operationalize changes


• Work with Managing Partners and Professional & Ethics Committee on new mandate intake and resolution of legal conflicts


• Provide ongoing advice and recommendations on privacy and information security working with the firm’s IT, KM, Talent Management and business services teams in a constantly evolving environment


• Continuously support and enhance the Firm’s enterprise risk management program working with leadership, internal audit and business services teams to align framework and operations with best practices


• Develop and support education programs for lawyers and staff on key professional and legal issues affecting the firm and our clients


• Coordinate and manage internal teams and outside counsel for legal issues, as needed

Qualifications and Experience

• Law degree and excellent academic qualifications from an accredited law school


• Member in good standing of a Canadian law society / bar


• 10+ years of experience providing corporate commercial/transaction advice in a full-service law firm and/or in-house environment

Knowledge, Skills and Attributes

• Excellent legal analytical and strategic thinking skills combined with ability to explain complex legal issues in simple, practical and succinct terms


• Strong business acumen, good judgment and pragmatic ability to provide business oriented legal advice


• Excellent organizational, operational, change management and project management skills with proven ability to manage multiple responsibilities and projects with competing priorities and deadlines


• Strong presentation skills with the confidence to lead training programs for lawyers and staff


• Exceptional interpersonal and relationship building skills; approachable demeanor with ability to quickly build rapport and communicate with a diverse range of people at all levels in the organization


• Confidence to make well thought-out recommendations and provide strategic advice at Executive and Board level


• Proven ability to effectively handle challenging situations in a time sensitive manner


• Some travel required from time to time

The position is for an existing vacancy.

Stikeman Elliott is committed to accommodating people with disabilities as part of our hiring process. If you have special requirements, please advise Human Resources during the recruitment process.