In a recent episode of CL Talk, Canadian Lawyer’s podcast, Christy Elliott, Senior Vice President, Sustainability, External Affairs and General Counsel at Keyera, shares her insights on the evolving role of the general counsel and the intersection of legal leadership with business strategy in Canada’s energy sector. Elliott will be featured in a roundtable discussion at the Canadian Legal Summit on October 9 in Toronto, where she will join other leaders for a session entitled “Future GC playbook: Essential skills to build a business mindset.”
Below is a summary of the discussion:
Enterprise-wide thinking is the linchpin for transformation, says Christy Elliott. Legal, sustainability, and external affairs strategies can’t be siloed – they must be “enterprise strategies” that demand a deep understanding of the business and a seat at the executive table.
Elliott joined Keyera in July 2023 after more than seven years at Parkland Corporation. She saw the enterprise at a turning point. “It felt like [Keyera] was at this inflection point,” she says. The company’s growth mandate and leadership team drew her in.
Keyera operates in Canada’s energy sector as a midstream operator, processing, transporting, and marketing natural gas liquids between producers and end users. It “helps get the product from the well to the customer,” Elliott says. Her portfolio is anything but narrow. “I have the best job, certainly at Keyera, maybe in the world,” she says. The common thread is strategy. “You have to have a deep understanding of the business and what the business is doing every day in order to be effective.”
Elliott’s career began in litigation at Jensen Shawa Solomon Duguid Hawkes LLP. “I started off …in corporate commercial litigation for an excellent litigation boutique in Calgary,” she says. She moved to Parkland, rising quickly to general counsel. The jump to executive leadership was abrupt. “It was obviously a huge honour…and it was a big career transition for me that I had to make very quickly,” she says.
That shift forced a new mindset. “You need to raise up beyond the legal function and understand the strategy of the corporation…and then figure out how legal can facilitate that,” Elliott says. She credits mentors for helping her see the value of shifting her mindset. “Having that service mindset and that strategic mindset…helps you be seen as more of a partner to the business,” she says.
The general counsel role is changing, she says. “GCs are understanding that they need to shift their focus more to a business focus.” She looks for junior lawyers who approach their job similarly: “We also look for more junior folks with that same mindset and that same kind of willingness to learn and understand the business side of the job.”
Elliott’s advice to young lawyers is blunt: get as much experience as possible, advocate for yourself, and stay curious about your client. “What does their business look like? How do they make money? How do they operate? Why are they successful? What are they concerned about?” she says.
Curiosity should extend beyond the file. “Read their financial statements and [management’s discussion and analysis] every quarter. Read their annual disclosure documents. Ask questions,” she says. Law firms that build real partnerships with clients stand out.
At Keyera, ESG and sustainability are not PR exercises. “The strategies…that we look at in terms of sustainability and ESG, in terms of external affairs and legal, they all really are grounded and anchored in the strategy of the corporation,” Elliott says. She’s seen investor priorities shift, but Keyera’s approach hasn’t wavered. “We've always had a really data-driven, values-driven approach to sustainability and reducing GHG emissions,” she says.
Stakeholder engagement is non-negotiable. “Where our assets are, where our plants are, our pipelines…go through…various communities, and we want to be a responsible member of those communities,” she says. “We work closely with [those] communities and Indigenous nations and understand…what do they need from us? What do we need to do to be an important or an effective partner and an effective participant in those areas?”
Coaching has been key to Elliott’s influence. “I've had leadership coaches over the years, and I think having coaches is…just a wonderful thing,” she says.
She expects external counsel to step up. “The same steps that in-house counsel need to take in terms of being a partner, a strategic partner, that's the role that external counsel should be taking as well,” she says.
For lawyers eyeing an in-house move, Elliott doesn’t sugarcoat it. The variety and volume of work at a firm are essential training. In-house, the rewards are different. “You really get to know your client and be a part of it and be a part of the success and the growth,” she says.
But the general counsel role comes with trade-offs. “You need to understand that the fun part of being a lawyer kind of ends, or at least, it's a lot less than it was…you don't get to go to court anymore,” she says. The job is about leading teams, advising the CEO and board, and driving strategy.
Managing lawyers is its own challenge. “Leading people is a skill, and it's something that doesn't necessarily come naturally to folks,” she says. “Learning that skill is a very, very important thing to do, if what you're aiming for is to be a general counsel.”
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This conversation can also be found here:
The episode can also be found on our CL Talk podcast homepage, which includes links to follow CL Talk on all the major podcast providers.