The challenge

A legal department of a global investment manager faced an ever-increasing volume of commercial contracts to review, while maintaining responsibility for their organization’s growing global investments across multiple industries and markets, causing a strain on time and resources available.

The solution

Torys helped to develop a contract intake questionnaire to support the legal team in evaluating the risk a given matter represents to the organization, a tool which informs both appropriate allocation of resource (in-house legal, non-legal, external counsel) and the framework required for that resource to complete the matter.

The challenge

In its pursuit of potential investment opportunities, a global institutional investor enters into non-disclosure agreements on a daily basis with parties around the world. Each non-disclosure contract is unique and must meet the investor’s own guidelines, circumstances and operations. Managing the high volume of these agreements on a timely basis posed an ongoing challenge for the busy in-house legal team.

The solution

Torys established a program to streamline the contract review process. Under the new program, the LSC team engages directly with the investor’s business people and reviews their proposed contracts within one business day, ensuring the investor’s unique guidelines are met. The team also participates in negotiations with the other parties with a view to solving differences. Unsettled, significant differences are brought to the attention of the in-house legal counsel for final resolution.

The challenge

For over a decade, Torys has worked with leading Canadian financial institutions across a variety of new issue securities offerings. Some of the medium-term note (MTN) programs in particular have seen volumes rise sharply in recent years, and Torys was keen to find a way to manage the increased volume in a more efficient way for our clients.

The solution

Torys transitioned a significant amount of this work to the LSC to introduce process efficiencies across the spectrum of our legal services and address the high volume. Working closely with our clients, the LSC established a range of improvements that included new processes and new technologies. Key changes included a dedicated LSC team serving our clients directly, resulting in improved and consistent work product; bespoke internal websites to track note filings and closings; and the sharing of the right resources to do the work effectively.