profile
Keeping the
business on track
Brian Swartz has built a career on aiding the development of
major projects in the construction industry. By Jennifer Brown
Brian Swartz may well have real-
ized the secret to being a successful
in-house counsel long before anyone else
who stepped into a company to form a
legal department. That's because he's been
in-house and integrated into the DNA of
the businesses he's represented since he
graduated from law school in 1983.
"I went in-house right away," says
Swartz, executive vice president, legal and
commercial services, at construction
giant Aecon Group Inc.
While he started in-house in the technology sector in the early '80s it's clear his
enthusiasm for the construction industry
is what drives his passion today.
At Aecon he has a broad portfolio of
executive responsibilities in addition to
his role as chief legal Officer. It includes
corporate secretary, risk and surety,
mergers and acquisitions, and labour
relations as well as office and facilities
services. He is also chair of the Aecon
Project Risk Committee, a member of the
executive committee, and a member of
the board of directions for each of the
wholly-owned subsidiaries of Aecon.
Everything we do is exciting. I get energized by
the industry and the projects and the people — it's
just so much fun and very rewarding."
Brian Swartz, Aecon Group Inc.
w w w. c a n a d i a n law y er m a g . c o m / i n h o u s E
october 2013
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