Business and Regulatory Law Portfolio Evaluation

Appendix B: Logic Model

BRLP Logic Model

1. Activities and Outputs

The BRLP conducts numerous activities that can be grouped into three main areas:

Each of these areas of activity is described below.

Advisory services

Advisory services include the provision of legal opinions and advice on legal issues, litigation matters, potentially litigious issues, and possible policy or legislative solutions. Besides providing legal opinions and advice on various legal issues related to the programs of the client, Portfolio counsel provide advice in areas related to corporate matters. BRLP counsel also provide direction and legal advice on policy development, as well as assistance with drafting instructions for legislation and regulations. In addition, counsel offer advisory services that are typical of a commercial practice, such as drafting contracts. In providing legal advisory services, BRLP works closely with client departments and agencies to ensure strong functional ties and a good understanding of the client’s business lines and operational environment. This is accomplished, in part, through serving on various client committees and in being incorporated into their management structures.

Litigation and litigation support services

The litigation services of the BRLP are provided by Justice litigators, who generally work in the regional offices or at the Litigation Branch at headquarters. While some DLSUs conduct litigation before administrative tribunals and courts, they more often provide support to litigation counsel by assisting the litigator and the client with a litigation case. Litigation support services range from participating in the litigation team to providing legal advice.

In providing litigation services, counsel develop strategies that include recommending appropriate dispute resolution opportunities to try to settle a matter prior to a final court decision, as well as proceeding to litigate the matter before a court. Strategies are formulated with input from the litigators, DLSU counsel and client departments and agencies. The BRLP works with its client departments and agencies to manage the volume of litigation through early settlement, national issue coordination, and legal risk management.

Management and support of law practice

This activity is intended to capture the decentralized structure of the Portfolio, where the ADMO, the DLSUs and regional offices play a role in the management and support of law practice. The ADMO provides a coordinating function by managing the financial and human resources of the Portfolio; sharing best practices/lessons learned; supporting training opportunities, including language training, for counsel and other staff; and facilitating inter- and intra-portfolio coordination. The CLS in the ADMO provides functional coordination across the Department by offering guidance and assistance to legal counsel within Justice on commercial and regulatory law.

The DLSUs and the business law and regulatory law sections in the regional offices provide strategic advice and coordination of the practice of business and regulatory law, and conduct the strategic monitoring of high impact files. While the ADMO supports or facilitates inter- and intra-portfolio coordination, the DLSUs and the business law and regulatory law sections in the regional offices are the units directly involved in coordinating the legal services. They coordinate and consult with specialized sections within the Department, other portfolios within Justice and other federal departments and agencies, as appropriate, in order to ensure consistency and accuracy in the advice provided across the federal government. They are responsible for any briefing and reports on high profile files or their legal services more generally. In addition to this management and coordination role, the DLSUs and the business law and regulatory law sections in the regional offices provide tools, courses and material to assist law practitioners and client departments and agencies. They share lessons learned, best practices and work products (e.g., legal opinions) to help improve the law practice of the Portfolio.

The activity area of management and support of law practice has its own outcomes, in addition to supporting the achievement of outcomes in the other two activity areas of advisory services and litigation and litigation support services.

2. Immediate Outcomes

Timely, responsive and useful advisory services

The BRLP will ensure timely, clear and responsive legal services by complying with Justice service standards in the MOU with each of its client departments and agencies. These service standards will include responding in a timely manner to client requests for legal services; meeting mutually agreed-upon deadlines; providing regular progress reports; and providing clear and practical guidance, including the provision of legal options for the prevention, containment or early resolution of contentious issues. Although the client’s priorities and objectives will be considered, the litigation strategies and legal advice are also expected to be guided by the rule of law and the Department’s responsibilities under the Department of Justice Act.

Legal risks are identified and assessed in a timely and consistent manner

The Portfolio is expected to consider legal risks in the course of providing forward-looking legal advice and assisting the client department and agency to respond proactively and to prevent, mitigate or manage the legal risk. Counsel will assess the legal risk for all litigation and advisory files, as appropriate. The processes for assessing legal risks ensure that the level of risk is accurately determined and communicated to the client in a consistent and timely manner.

Enhanced understanding of legal issues, their implications, and potential risks by client departments and agencies

The BRLP is expected to communicate potential legal risks, their implications, and available legal options to its client departments and agencies, which will provide them with the information, advice and support they need to make informed decisions about how to manage legal risk and to achieve their client departments’ or agencies’ objectives.

Counsel and client departments/agencies have appropriate training

As part of management and support of law practice, the BRLP will ensure that counsel have appropriate training. This training may be internal training offered by other BRLP counsel or external training opportunities. Training is intended to assist counsel in doing their job, keep them current in legal issues and trends, and address any identified gaps in knowledge or skills.

The BRLP is also expected to offer training on legal issues and risks to client departments and agencies. This training should help increase client awareness of when to consult legal counsel, as well as how to reduce the likelihood of potential litigation.

In addition, the BRLP is committed to the development of employees’ second language proficiency in order to fulfill their career aspirations and help them further their advancement within Justice, and to meet the Department’s future operational needs. For this reason, the ADMO of the BRLP has set aside an annual training budget to be used only for full time language training for the employees of the Portfolio.

Counsel have access to appropriate expertise, tools, structures, and resources to support the delivery of legal services to BRLP client departments and agencies

The ADMO, DLSUs and regional offices are expected to provide counsel with tools, structures and resources needed to provide high-quality legal services. This includes activities related to knowledge transfer and management, including information sharing on best practices, practice directives and mechanisms to alert counsel to important developments in the law. In addition, counsel are encouraged to use departmental tools, such as Justipedia and the legal risk management grid, as well as structures such as teams, committees, protocols, peer review and other management and/or quality control mechanisms that DLSUs or regional offices may have.

Legal services support a whole-of-government approach

The BRLP will adhere to the “whole-of-government” approach by providing consistent legal and legal policy advice and taking consistent legal positions. As in all areas of Justice, the BRLP is responsible for taking an integrated “whole-of-government” approach, where its advice and litigation positions consider the overall impact on the federal government, beyond particular client interests. This will be accomplished by consulting within the Department, and where appropriate, with other federal departments and agencies. When conflicting positions arise, the BRLP must provide appropriate briefing within Justice to ensure that senior management is aware of the issue. For issues that extend beyond the mandate of the BRLP, there are other departmental mechanisms to ensure a “whole-of-government” approach (e.g., the National Litigation Committee and the National Legal Advisory Committee).

By eliminating inconsistent or contradictory legal positions, the BRLP will ensure that government positions and priorities are maintained and legal risks that could arise from inconsistent legal positions and advice are minimized. The work of the ADMO and the CLS is central to enhancing coordination on commercial law issues within the Department.

Coordination and management of significant legal issues

The DLSUs and the business and regulatory law sections of the regional offices are expected to coordinate and manage significant legal issues with assistance from the ADMO, as needed. This includes the strategic monitoring of high impact files and legal trends, providing briefing and reporting within the Department as necessary, as well as strategic advice and coordination of the practice of business and regulatory law. Portfolio managers in the DLSUs and regional offices are expected to respond to significant legal issues so that the Portfolio has the expertise and resources available to address any emerging legal trends or significant files. The BRLP should also ensure that senior Justice and client officials are aware of these significant legal issues so they can make any necessary management or policy response.

3. Intermediate Outcomes

Government decision making is informed by advisory services

By providing timely, responsive, consistent and useful legal advice to client departments and agencies, counsel will ensure that government officials are aware of the legal risks and legal implications of certain proposed decisions, in addition to other relevant factors (operational, political, financial, etc.). As a result, government decision making should be informed by the legal advice received from the BRLP. The legal advice should provide government officials with options to reach their objectives, while considering the legal implications associated with their decisions.

Advisory services support the implementation of government decisions

Although the advice of the BRLP is expected to inform the decisions of client departments and agencies, that advice can be followed in whole, in part, or not at all. Once client departments and agencies have made their decisions, the role of the BRLP is to support the implementation of those decisions. The support will include legal opinions and advice on issues related to implementation, as opposed to development of programs and policies. In addition, it will include the commercial transactional work required to implement the decisions.

In partnership with the client, legal risks are managed and mitigated effectively

The BRLP will provide client departments and agencies with legal advice/information on the legal issues and risks that have been identified, including their assessment of the legal risk. Counsel will consult and communicate with client officials, and, together, they may review the strategies used to prevent, mitigate or manage legal risk. Although the BRLP will provide legal advice and, for legal issues before the courts, suggest litigation strategies, the ultimate decision on how to proceed rests with the client departments and agencies, subject to the Department of Justice Act. However, the BRLP advice will support the ability of the client departments and agencies to make an informed choice on how to handle legal risks.

Effective advocacy of government’s position

The BRLP must act to ensure that the interests of the Crown in the proper administration of justice are protected through its conduct of litigation. Effective advocacy means that, on a principled basis, the BRLP settles cases that should be settled and takes cases to court where there is the desire to advance the state of the law by obtaining legal clarity. Appropriate results can include early settlement of litigation cases and court decisions that support the federal government’s position.

4. Ultimate Outcome

Through the achievement of the immediate and intermediate outcomes, the BRLP will support the Department’s strategic objective:

Logic Model: Business and Regulatory Law Portfolio

The overall objective of the BRLP is to support the ministerial and attorney general responsibilities found in the Department of Justice Act and other relevant legislation.

Logic Model: Business and Regulatory Law Portfolio

Figure 10 - Text equivalent

The overall objective of the BRLP is to support the ministerial and attorney general responsibilities found in the Department of Justice Act and other relevant legislation.

The Portfolio’s activities include advisory services, management and support of law practice and litigation and litigation support services.

Outputs:

The outputs for advisory services are:

  • Legal opinions and advice
  • Legal advice on policy development
  • Dispute prevention/resolution options-strategies
  • Government decision makers informed of legal risks and options
  • Negotiations
  • Legislative drafting advice and support
  • Real property and commercial transactions
  • Compliance and enforcement support

The outputs for management and support of law practice are:

  • Strategic monitoring of high impact legal files
  • Inter and intra-portfolio consultation and coordination
  • Briefings and reports
  • Managing the financial and human resources to respond to the demand for legal services
  • Guidance and assistance to legal counsel within the Department on commercial and regulatory law and their practice
  • Lessons learned/best practices and work products (e.g., legal opinions)
  • Training to assist law practitioners and client departments or agencies
  • Strategic advice and coordination of the practice of business and regulatory law
  • Tools, courses, and material to assist law practitioners and client departments or agencies

The outputs for litigation and litigation support services are:

  • Litigation strategies and advice
  • Litigation conducted
  • Litigation support
  • Resolution options-strategies recommended-pursued
  • Government decision makers informed of legal risks and options

Immediate Outcomes:

The outputs for advisory services contribute to the following immediate outcomes:

  • Timely, responsive, and useful advisory services
  • Legal risks are identified and assessed in a timely and consistent manner
  • Enhanced understanding of legal issues, their implications, and potential risks by client departments and agencies

The outputs for management and support of law practice contribute to the following immediate outcomes:

  • Counsel and client departments/agencies have appropriate training
  • Counsel have access to appropriate expertise, tools, structures, and resources to support delivery of legal services to BRLP client departments and agencies
  • Legal services support a whole-of-government approach
  • Coordination and management of significant legal issues

The outputs for litigation and litigation support services contribute to the following immediate outcomes:

  • Timely, responsive, and useful litigation services
  • Legal risks are identified and assessed in a timely and consistent manner
  • Enhanced understanding of legal issues, their implications, and potential risks by client departments and agencies

Intermediate outcomes:

Collectively, the immediate outcomes contribute to the following intermediate outcomes:

  • Government decision making is informed by advisory services
  • Advisory services support the implementation of government decisions
  • In partnership with the client, legal risks are managed and mitigated effectively
  • Effective advocacy of government’s position

Ultimate outcome:

Collectively, the intermediate outcomes contribute to the following ultimate outcome:

The BRLP contributes to a federal government that is supported by high quality legal services.