Mr. Ross McFarlane

This oral history interview with Ross William McFarlane, Vice-President General Counsel and Secretary of General Motors of Canada, provides a detailed account of the evolution of in-house legal practice in Canada from the 1960s to 1990. McFarlane graduated from Osgoode Hall Law School in 1962, articled at Fasken, Calvin, and after a brief stint in private practice in Port Hope, became one of the early corporate lawyers in Canada when he joined IBM in 1965 as their second lawyer.

McFarlane describes the significant challenges and prejudices faced by early in-house counsel, who were often viewed as having “prostituted” themselves by leaving traditional private practice. At IBM, he worked extensively on complex technology contracts, anti-trust compliance, and government relations, though he found the constant oversight from the U.S. parent company frustrating. In 1976, he moved to General Motors of Canada as General Counsel, where he built the legal department from two lawyers to a substantial team specializing in different business areas.

The interview reveals the transformation of in-house legal practice from a marginalized role to a sophisticated, strategic function. McFarlane emphasizes the importance of “preventive law” – having lawyers embedded with business units to identify legal issues before they become problems. He discusses the challenges of managing product liability litigation, regulatory compliance, and the delicate balance between providing legal advice and business counsel. His career exemplifies the growing importance and respectability of in-house counsel in Canadian corporate practice.

This description was written by AI and may contain some inaccuracies.