Welcome to In-House Counsel Network

The In-House Counsel Network (ICN) was established in 2006 by several in-house lawyers practicing in small legal departments. These lawyers recognized that in recent years the number of sole in-house lawyers in Alberta had significantly increased and that these lawyers all faced common challenges including;

• keeping up to date in a large variety of practice areas;
• obtaining timely access to legal resources including: precedents, policies and articles;
• providing quality and cost effective advice for all of the corporation’s legal matters;
• contacting in-house counsel peers to act as sounding boards.

The ICN is the only organization with a mandate to address the challenges and needs of in-house lawyers working in small legal departments.  

 How does the ICN do this?

Currently, the ICN has six Board of Directors who are senior in-house counsel.   They each contribute experience and expertise from having practiced law in private practice and in a variety of corporate environments and roles :

• Susan Purcell – President (PPI Financial Group) 

• Bonita Croft – Vice President (Trican Well Services Ltd)

• David Holub – Secretary/Treasurer (Apache Canada Ltd.)

 ICN initiatives:

• Professional Development: Monthly luncheon seminars with topics tailored to meet the exclusive needs of ICN members.  These seminars are designed to foster a spirit of community and to provide a collegial forum for discussion, sharing of ideas and expertise.
• Online Network/ Database: The ICN website was developed in 2007 and is the only site dedicated exclusively to small in-house legal departments.  The ICN’s calendar of events is conveniently accessible on the site.  The website contains a password protected area which is exclusively dedicated to members only.  This section includes:
  • member profiles and contact information; 
  • a Discussion Board to facilitate questions and answers as well as the exchange of information and practice management tips amongst the members;
  • a library of resources including precedents, recent articles, and seminar materials;
  • links to frequently used legal resources and services.
• Sponsorship: The ICN Board of Directors welcomes sponsorship from businesses providing services to the legal community.  This promotes the ICN’s profile in the legal community and allows the membership fees to remain at a nominal amount.  Sponsorship funds are earmarked for special events or projects.  Sponsors are encouraged to host social events for the ICN as another means of cultivating a community spirit within the group.
• Diverse Representation: The ICN currently has 43 members from a variety of business sectors including oil & gas, utilities, insurance, venture capital, information technology, insurance and construction services. This allows the membership to tap into a broad range of expertise and ensures that the goals and direction of the ICN remained broad based.
• Leadership: The ICN’s long term strategic direction is to initiate the development of sister ICN groups representing major cities and/or provinces.