For Jim Willoughby, Law’86, “General Counsel of the Year” is more than a prestigious award – it’s a culmination of decades of work and the result of a tremendous recent win in the courts.

Willoughby took home the top prize from the Canadian General Counsel Awards (CGCA) on June 1 for his work in defending Allergan Inc. against a US$53-billion hostile takeover bid. As chief legal officer of the Botox manufacturer’s Canadian subsidiary, he had a key part in stopping the unwanted bid, enabling Allergan to set up the biggest deal in 2014 and in a decade for the pharmacare industry.

Since the unwanted bid was launched by a Canadian-based company, Quebec’s Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc., along with activist shareholder Bill Ackman, Willoughby worked on several strategies and was involved in every aspect of the crisis for seven months starting last April. In the end, U.K.-based Actavis PLC bought Allergan for US$66 billion.

Willoughby is no stranger to the role or the industry. Beginning his career practising intellectual property, he spent five years as general counsel for biotechnology company Roche/Genetech, and 13 years as president of the Chempharm Ltd. investment company before joining Allergan in 2011. Noting that today’s general counsel have “incredibly and increasingly complex” roles, he told the National Post, “The one particular challenge that remains is being close to the business and exercising the appropriate amount of legal scrutiny and governance when we are being drawn in and relied upon for our business acumen.”

The career of general counsel all begins with a legal education – and a good sense of humour doesn’t hurt. As part of his acceptance speech, Willoughby thanked his parents for helping him get his start. ”I’d like to thank Mom and Dad for paying for me to go to law school.”