God's Love and the Law

By John Cordeau

December 1, 2014

Growing up in a family filled with faith was the best possible preparation for this distinguished Canadian lawyer’s career

Now, how does this stress affect one's spouse, one's children, the staff and legal assistants, receptionists, the court runner and everybody else involved in this environment? As a manager for 18 years who observed these challenges, I know that without faith and a moral code, we would be lost How do we define it? Do we define success as money, winning and fame as a secular connotation, or do we want our people to be people of value to the community? Do we value them for the gifts they bring? What about the example we give? How do we treat each other? How do we support each other? How do we share the benefits with each other? Faith tells us to be honest in our dealings and to respect others In reflecting on how I would approach this topic, it became clear to me that faith and personal religious conviction are, and always have been, one of the ways that I and others of the firm have discharged our obligations If you google "lawyers and stress," you'll see there are many articles, and it starts at the beginning of a career with law students at university I quickly learned that other leaders in our firm were people of faith This mission statement caused me to reflect on my own journey of more than 38 years of practice, 18 of which were in the senior management field at a major Canadian international law firm, Bennett Jones LLP My background was not really conducive to becoming a Senior Partner, Chairman and Lead Director of a 400-member law firm with 800 employees in nine cities in Canada, the United States, the Middle East and China Simply put, my faith is that I have been blessed by God to serve others, and if I do my best, He will provide the tools to guide me to proper decisions

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