In-house counsel honoured with national awards

Two alumni -- Peter Johnson, Law '89 (Artsci '85), and David Allgood, Law '74 (Arts '70) -- have been presented with Canadian General Counsel Awards (CGCA). The CGCA, co-sponsored by the National Post and ZSA Legal Recruitment, recognize excellence in the in-house counsel community. Johnson won the 2011 award for Deal Making and Allgood accepted one of two inaugural awards for Social Responsibility on behalf of his legal team at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC).

© National Post (Tyler Anderson/National Post)

Ken Fredeen of Deloitte presents the CGCA for Deal Making to Peter Johnson, Law ’89, at the ceremony in Toronto on June 13.

Johnson, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary with Shaw Communications Inc., won the award for his role in Shaw's purchase of Canwest Global Communications Corp.'s broadcasting assets. He also played a significant role in the acquisition of four major cable systems worth $400 million, making Shaw the largest cable company in Canada. Johnson is delighted with the award. "There's a lot of blood, sweat and tears that go into the deal, so it's great to be recognized by the profession."

The Canwest deal involved a $2-billion acquisition of all of the Global TV and Alliance Atlantis specialty channel assets, explains Johnston, "What was unique about the deal was that we had to go through several different hurdles to secure the assets." Initially run as a bidding process for a small equity stake in the company that would hold the assets, the deal transformed dramatically into the acquisition of the entire asset portfolio – 19-plus specialty channels which, being under creditor protection, required Shaw to get court sanction to ensure fairness to all stakeholders.

One of the things integral to making this particular deal work was building relationships, says Johnson, something he learned from both Shaw's founder and Queen's Law. Regarding the former, Johnson says, "J.R. Shaw has always emphasized that you can't strike a deal with someone on the opposite side of the table if you're not going to be able to look them in the eye and develop the trust. It was paramount for our success in the deal to secure the trust. Our senior team led by our President, Peter Bissonnette, executed on that beautifully."

At Queen's, Johnson says two courses provided him with the foundational skills required: Negotiation, taught by Professor Robert Hawkins, and Legal Imagination, taught by Professor Mark Weisberg. Both influenced him greatly. "They helped me think broadly to find solutions beyond the straight and narrow path."

© National Post (Tyler Anderson/National Post)

David Allgood, Law ’74, accepts the CGCA for RBC Legal’s Social Responsibility from John West of Norton Rose at the ceremony.

David Allgood, Executive Vice-President and General Counsel at the Royal Bank of Canada, heads RBC's legal department, which received an award for social responsibility. Allgood, who is also Chair of the Dean's Council at Queen's Law, says, "At RBC we've taken a lead in two areas – pro bono and diversity.

"Generally, in conjunction with Pro Bono Law Ontario, we work with unaccompanied minors who show up at Pearson Airport, act as duty counsel in Small Claims Court, and help charities with governance or incorporation issues." As for diversity's very important value at RBC, he says, "Most recently we took a leadership role in Legal Leaders for Diversity, a group of 50- plus general counsel working to promote diversity in the legal profession."

At Queen's, Allgood learned early from torts professor Michael Pickard the importance of looking at the big picture, and that translated into his views on corporate social responsibility. "He taught us the importance of thinking about the broad legal issues rather than just trying to find the black letter solution to a problem."

Of RBC's award, nominator Andrew Fleming, senior partner at Norton Rose, says, "The Royal Bank has always been at the forefront of social responsibility to the community. David Allgood has picked up on that and made the law group the miniature version of the bank itself in terms of its overall strategy."