A change of the legal crew at SNC-Lavalin as top lawyer retires and a new GC is hired

The huge Montreal-based engineering and construction company SNC-Lavalin will soon have a new general counsel: Charlene Ripley. She starts her new job October 15 and will report to Interim President and CEO Ian Edwards.

Until earlier this year, Ripley was general counsel at Goldcorp Inc. While there, she was responsible for developing and implementing a company-wide anti-bribery compliance program. She also led the legal, ethics and compliance, human resources and internal audit departments. Ripley will have plenty to do in her new job. Recently, SNC-Lavalin was at the center of political controversy involving Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a deferred prosecution agreement obtained by the company over bribery charges.

“I would like to welcome Charlene on board and wish her well as we embrace our journey to excellence across all our businesses,” said Ian L. Edwards, Interim President and CEO, SNC-Lavalin. “Her proven track record speaks for itself, her experience will be invaluable for SNC-Lavalin.”

Ripley replaces Hartland Paterson, who since 2015 reorganized the Legal function and drove several important successes and changes. For example, he brought the Legal and Integrity functions into close collaboration and ensured that there was a greater focus on gender equality. He’s retiring at the end of the year.