Category: Media

Navigator receives accreditation from Law Society of Ontario to provide continuing professional development for lawyers

With over two decades of experience serving the legal community, Navigator is proud to be among the first public affairs firms in Canada to deliver continuing professional development content for lawyers.

Beginning April 2019, Navigator will be hosting a quarterly series of panel discussions for the legal community that will focus on the intersection of legal and reputational jeopardy, particularly in high-stakes crisis situations. The series has received accreditation from the Law Society of Ontario and therefore will count toward the three professionalism hours of continuing professional development that Ontario lawyers must complete each year.

We are excited to have a top-flight panel for our first session, which will examine the subject of Reputational and Legal Jeopardy in Crisis Situations. Our panel will include the Hon. Stephen Goudge, Q.C., former Ontario Court of Appeal Judge, and Chris Bentley, former Attorney General of Ontario and current Managing Director of the Law Practice Program, as well as our very own Jaime Watt and Lisa Pearson.

“When crisis hits, an organization almost always faces two kinds of jeopardy: legal and reputational,” says David Phillips, Principal and General Counsel of Navigator. “These days, reputational crises can sink a company more swiftly and severely than a lawsuit. Navigator is thrilled to be joined by two of our country’s most esteemed lawyers for this exploration of the relationship between legal and reputational risk and the unique role of the legal practitioner in high-stakes crisis situations”.

In the past, legal and reputational jeopardy have been dealt with consecutively, with legal issues taking precedence over reputation. Times have changed. In the age of social media and the 24-hour newsroom, reputation is not something that exists only on a newspaper’s front page for a few days. We now live in a world where legal and reputational risk must be dealt with contemporaneously. This fundamentally impacts the role of the legal advisor, particularly in high-stakes and high-profile cases.

Navigator specializes in balancing the realities of legal and reputational risk, whether in the context of a high-profile lawsuit, regulatory investigation, controversial transaction, among other legal matters. To meet the complex strategy needs of the digital age, Navigator works together with clients to find cross-disciplinary solutions to manage issues before they become full-blown crises and to minimize reputational damage.