Navigating a New Era of Policy Volatility
Sponsored by McCarthy Tétrault

Geopolitical shifts, new regulation, and the growing use of AI are changing how legal risk gets managed — and how General Counsel need to lead. Join a panel of legal leaders as they discuss balancing risk and innovation, overseeing responsible AI use, and rethinking the legal function's role and the value it can bring.

AI and Strategic Decision-Making: From Legal Risk to Business Advice
Sponsored by LCM Attorneys

Your business team wants to deploy an AI tool next month. Employees are already using generative AI. A vendor won’t accept your preferred terms, and sensitive information may be going in as an input. Who decides what’s acceptable, and on what basis?

This 45-minute interactive discussion works through the decisions in-house lawyers face as AI becomes part of business operations. It is built around real-world scenarios in AI use and governance, and it focuses on what legal should do when the answer isn’t a simple yes or no.

Key discussion areas:

• AI procurement and contracting
• Internal AI use
• Confidential and personal information
• Governance and risk allocation

Speaker:

• Dany Guimond-Valcourt, Lawyer, LCM Attorneys

Peer-to-Peer Leadership Roundtables
A perennial favourite at the Retreat, these small-group discussions provide space for candid conversations on the issues that matter most. Participants exchange experiences, share practical insights, and learn from peers navigating similar leadership challenges.

The New Frontier of Risk: Navigating Cyber, Strategy, and Insurance
Sponsored by Blaney McMurtry LLP

According to the Business Development Bank of Canada, a staggering 73% of small and medium-sized businesses have already experienced a cybersecurity incident. Yet fewer than half of Canadian organizations say they are prepared for one, according to data from the Insurance Bureau of Canada. Cyber risk is no longer an IT problem. It is one of the largest legal, financial, and operational exposures facing your organization, and it lands on your desk.

This practical, interactive session gives in-house lawyers a framework for managing cyber risk, from assessing your organization's exposure to deciding what insurance should cover and what it shouldn't be expected to.

Key discussions:

• The evolving threat landscape
• Elevating the conversation to the C-suite
• Risk management and loss transfer

Speaker:

• David MacKenzie, Partner, Blaney McMurtry

The Business Case for Human Leadership

Lawyers are trained to manage risk, protect the institution, and keep emotion out of the room. It’s what makes them excellent at their jobs. It’s also what holds many of them back as leaders.

The data tells a different story than most legal training does. High-trust teams outperform. Leaders with strong self-awareness make better decisions under pressure. Psychological safety, the kind that makes people speak up rather than go quiet, is one of the strongest predictors of team performance. These aren’t soft ideas. They’re measurable advantages, and most legal departments are leaving them on the table.

In this session, Jonathan Cullen, former VP Legal & General Counsel of Pfizer Canada and General Counsel of the Year recipient, draws on nearly two decades leading legal teams across three continents to make the business case for a more human approach to legal leadership. He’ll show what changes in how teams perform, in how the business sees legal, and in your own effectiveness. And he’ll give you something concrete to take back to your team on Monday.

Speaker:

• Jonathan Cullen, Founder, Jonathan Cullen Coaching