Autumn Howell
Senior Legal Counsel
Degree:
Common Law
Language(s):
English
Bar call:
Alberta (2004)
Expertise:
Compliance and governance
Corporate
General Commercial
M&A and Divestitures
Natural Resources
Procurement and logistics
Securities
Practices in:
Alberta
, Canada
Autumn Howell
Senior Legal Counsel
Who she is
“It’s important to learn the business,” says Autumn Howell regarding her legal role. “I enjoy working in-house because I get the opportunity to work on a wide range of matters and with different departments and people.”
A corporate and commercial lawyer by training who has worked mostly for public companies, Autumn has a knack for putting people at ease, thanks in part to her dry sense of humour. It’s why she excels at cultivating relationships with people at all levels to help solve their challenges and managing risk in the context of business growth.
She also has significant experience working with boards on governance, process and strategy. She understands that legal considerations aren’t always the driving factor in a business decision, and respects that, but is comfortable raising issues she identifies as relevant to the business’ success. As legal counsel, she believes that being pragmatic is essential in helping a team determine their path to achieving business objective; this is particularly true in the current environment where the priorities and risk landscape for businesses are constantly evolving.
Based in Calgary, Autumn likes to head to the mountains, skiing, hiking, and running in her spare time. She also spends time creating new recipes as she enjoys to both cook and bake.
How she got here
After graduating in law from the University of Saskatchewan, Autumn started her practice at McCarthy Tétrault before moving in-house as legal counsel to a waste management and environmental services company. In 2010, she took up a position as senior legal counsel (and subsequently also Corporate Secretary) at Veresen, an energy infrastructure company. After a few years there, she joined Simplex Legal for a first stint before serving as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at TriSummit Utilities. In 2021, she returned to Simplex as Senior Legal Counsel.
Interview with Autumn Howell
Please take a moment and provide me with a few examples of activities, hobbies you enjoy participating in.
I enjoy any activity outdoors! During the warmer months I enjoy running, hiking, biking and paddle boarding. In the colder months I am often in the mountains cross country and downhill skiing and snowboarding but when its too cold I will be reading a book by the fireplace. Anytime of year I enjoy both cooking and baking to satisfy my svoury and sweet teeth.
Write about a personal or professional achievement you are proud of.
Too shy to share!
Why did you decide to join us at Simplex?
I've always enjoyed working with in-house teams on a variety of topics and projects which allows me to use existing experiences and skills and continue to be challenged in new areas. Simplex provides a supportive and innovative platform where lawyers can work with great people, doing fulfilling work they enjoy while achieving flexibility and balance for pursuit of others interests. Simplex just makes sense!
What is it about Simplex's model do you believe is most attractive and beneficial to our clients?
Simplex engages high performing lawyers who have diverse experience operating at in-house environments and top tier firms , practical lawyers who genuinely enjoy their work and care about the results, which translates into real value for clients.