About

Tracey Beaudoin, general counsel and corporate secretary, leads a small but highly effective team with two very senior lawyers and a seven year PQE lawyer, two support staff and one insurance coordinator at Packers Plus Energy Services. Two lawyers sit in the main corporate headquarters in Canada and one is located in Singapore. From these locations the team covers legal work around the globe, including the Middle East, Latin America, Europe and North America where the company provides equipment for the energy sector. Team members are not segmented by jurisdiction as each provides advice anywhere it is needed. Beaudoin says that, ‘we find it tremendously useful to have a person in another time zone to be able to cover areas of the world in real time and also continue progress on files overnight so urgent matters are always being handled right away’. The team is also phasing in a legal operations function into the department and continues to streamline work efficiencies by utilising legal operations and software in combination with this function. She also adds that, ‘phasing in new file management software is also going to help us become more nimble in doing our job from anywhere in the world, while collaborating more efficiently with other members of non-legal staff in the business’. The legal group has been involved with the development of game-changing technology in the industry and has also been at the forefront of defending retaliatory litigation against the company. This innovative spirit is carried over into the group’s working culture, prioritising flexible and empowered working environments. Beaudoin highlights that, ‘gone are the days of the traditional “steaming cup of coffee” where you have to live at your desk 24/7 to be considered a great lawyer, diligent and sharp. In today’s world, people need the flexibility to be able to get on with their lives while being empowered to get the job done whenever and wherever without worrying that their personal lives will suffer… our jobs are demanding given the international scope of our company, so we have to have the flexibility that allows us to keep the engine going while also maintaining sanity in our personal lives. In order to do this you have to have a team that you trust and can rely on (this includes our outside counsel) wherever we might be in the world’.