If you think it’s expensive to hire a professional,
wait until you hire an amateur.
— Red Adair, American celebrity, 1915–2004
My Seattle posting was initially for four years. By early 2002, I was in wind-down mode. Already I had been offered the vice-presidency of a reputable BC firm and had received an overture from a western Canadian university to establish and head a centre for North American studies. And yes, my homing instinct had kicked in. Maybe, just maybe, I could find a new challenge and an income source back on the Rock. The time had come to make decisions for life after my all-too-brief interlude in the foreign service.
And then, John Manley’s210 cellphone rang. He and I had just come out of a meeting at the Olympia state capital with Governor Gary Locke and were headed back to Seattle by car. John handed me the phone: “It’s the boss.”
After the usual bantering, Prime Minister Chrétien popped the question: “How would you like to stay down there for another year?” “Down there” meant Seattle, of course. And I was delighted to say yes. It did require a little stickhandling in order to extricate myself from commitments predicated on my expected July departure. With that phone call and, later, a second extension, my tour of duty got stretched into more than five years.
In the spring of 2003, Foreign Minister Bill Graham summoned me to Vancouver for a chat. Would I consider staying at the Seattle post for yet another year? Flattered though I was, I had no choice but to turn thumbs down on the minister’s request. I did so reluctantly.
The very special honour of representing Canada in the United States proved to be an amazing experience, productive, immensely satisfying, and enjoyable. An additional year would have been the icing on the cake. But it wasn’t to be. I had made personal and professional commitments that could not be easily unravelled.
I had spent considerable chunks of time as an entrepreneur. However, for most of my adult life I had been on the public payroll, as educator, politician, and diplomat. For the third time since my rags-to-riches undergraduate days, my main source of income would come from peddling my skills in the private sector. I dusted off the CV and rejigged it to put my best foot forward, all the while doing a bit of self-analysis: What is my marketable skill set? How do I get the attention of those who could use my services? Who would hire a recovering politician? Should I go back to consulting, as I had done with satisfying results twice before?
While pondering my potential options, the notion of a working relationship with a law firm never crossed my mind. Nonetheless, once the word got out that I would shortly be a free agent, I was approached by four Canadian law firms. Would I be interested in establishing/joining/expanding a government relations practice while doing US marketing? The two largest firms sent three-man teams to Seattle to take my measure, pitch me, and discuss terms.
They should have come a month earlier. I had just locked into a quite attractive arrangement as VP at WCG International, a Victoria, BC, enterprise. I would spearhead plans for expansion in the US and overseas. A consulting relationship was also established with one of Canada’s law firms, Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP, which took into account the WCG obligation.
How dull . . . to rust unburnished . . .211
The WCG assignment was rewarding, yet frustrating. The US business plan was frequently revamped to accommodate emerging corporate realities. Other initiatives became part of my responsibilities, including pitches to the Canadian and UK governments with my good friend Roy Emperingham.
An amazing woman joined the WCG team when I did. Eloise Anderson is known internationally as a leader in public policy creation and implementation and has the distinction of having served as a cabinet member in two different US states, with Tommy Thompson in Wisconsin and Pete Wilson in California. As of January 2011, she’s back at a cabinet table for a third time. Governor Scott Walker named her as secretary of Wisconsin’s Department of Children and Families. An analytical type who can be passionate when circumstances warrant and a conservative Republican, Eloise and I became and remain good friends. Whether at her party’s convention in New York, cooling our heels at Nevada’s Division of Welfare in Carson City, or having lunch in Victoria, she’s always an absolute delight to be with.
Soon after we arrived at WCG, Eloise gave voice to a conundrum that had ensnared us both: “The boss is good at collecting trophies, not so good at polishing them!” Therein lay the frustration. Company management was ever on the lookout for talent to beef up its already impressive team and was successful at reeling in some of the very best. However, its focus on the next potential acquisition left little time or mind-share, it seemed, to effectively harness the skill sets of those already at the table.
As in any work environment, it’s the people that make the difference, that make you float into the office in the morning or dread the thought of going there. I loved working with the folks at WCG. Their dedication, energy, and can-do attitude were invigorating. Humanity was their stock-in-trade, not a facade of pious posturing.
The tone was set from the top. Ian Ferguson is an astute businessman and a multi-tasker. He is, first and foremost, though, a man of compassion and integrity. His senior associates, including my good friend Dr. Jim Rae, brought to the team those same qualities and an impressive skill set.
Regrettably, today’s WCG is but a shadow of its former self. The closely held company, Ferguson being the majority shareholder, was sold in 2008 to a Tucson firm. With the key decisions being made elsewhere, the company’s fortunes took a nosedive, though it continues to fill a valuable niche in its area of service and expertise.
Setting the bar high
Gowlings212 is a phenomenal organization. The firm got its start as Gowling & Henderson in 1887. In recent years, more than a dozen mergers have produced the vibrant full-service law firm we know today. I watched with admiration the successful morphing of the predecessor groups into a cohesive, productive, upbeat team. It takes a special person to spearhead an undertaking of such size and complexity. Scott Jolliffe was that special person. His leadership was key to the firm’s transformation. His collegial approach, vision, and humanity helped ensure its continued pre-eminence.
In size, Gowlings is the largest or second-largest law firm in Canada, depending on the day, as professionals switch among organizations or establish their own practices. But here again, it’s the people, not its size or myriad areas of expertise, that make the firm such a dynamic and personable workplace. A more diverse, more high-powered team of legal trendsetters and support staff you will not find. I especially looked forward to the monthly telephone conferences of the government relations practice group, chaired by the no-nonsense, affable Henry Brown. My assignment at Gowlings took me to at least forty US cities a year, some more than once, especially the key markets, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.
The bonus prize during my time with Gowlings was the opportunity to get an insider view of the Canadian and US legal fraternity, to collaborate with many amazing people, and to cement several lasting friendships. James Freund is a retired New York attorney and prolific author. A day at an American Bar Association event was never quite complete until a bunch of us had gathered around the piano, drawn there by Freund’s melodic mastery of the keyboard and his choice of feel-good oldies.
When Seattle’s Karl Ege became chair of the ABA’s Section of Business, he opted to hold its 2009 spring meeting in Vancouver. I was pleased to head up the host committee for the event, the first non-lawyer and non-American to hold that position. Twenty-five hundred lawyers from around the world attended.
My forays into the US are less frequent these days. Not to worry. CNN and MSNBC keep me up-to-the-minute on OJ sequels and United Airlines’ customer service, while not neglecting the finer points of US Congressional stalemates and the latest manifestations of Donald Trump’s panting egomania.
With six fabulous years at Gowlings under my belt, it was time to move on, time to tackle other endeavours, new challenges which would take me to Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. And maybe time to stir up a little more mischief!
But that’s a story for another day.