LAC Group employs a talented, experienced group of analysts and editors who monitor and summarize competitive intelligence findings for clients. Following are more members of the research and intelligence team in our Moncton, New Brunswick offices. Links to articles that feature other team members can be found at the end of this post.
Paul Cormier
Senior Editor
Paul’s industry experience includes life and health insurance; Atlantic / Canadian issues; oceantech, blue economy and seafood industry; offshore resource extraction and sustainable energy production; and pharmaceuticals, including the oncology drug pipeline and research.
“I’ve gotten acquainted with a variety of subjects, and I’ve had the pleasure of serving clients in government, the insurance industry, the legal profession, pharmaceutical firms as well as associations and think tanks.”
Paul is a graduate of Mount Allison University.
Sarah Duncan
Senior Editor
While Sarah has worked primarily with legal clients and the private equity industry, her experience encompasses a wide range of industries and topics. Sarah’s financial experience includes mergers and acquisitions, venture capital, fund formation and fundraising, investments, partnerships, financing, bankruptcy, private equity trends and financial regulations.
“Private equity firms have dry powder to invest in companies in numerous sectors, so I actually get to report on more than just the private equity industry.”
That other industry experience includes technology, media and entertainment, oil and gas, metals and mining, infrastructure, real estate, healthcare, life sciences, green building and renewable energy.
Like most Canadians, Sarah loves hockey, using some of her personal time to volunteer as a counselor at hockey camps. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Studies from Crandall University.
Shannon Emery
Senior Editor
Shannon’s career experience has included content creation, publishing, editing, writing and marketing research. As part of her coverage of legal and other professional services, Shannon also has broad technology experience, covering sectors like digital health, SaaS, legal technology and AI / machine learning.
Shannon is a graduate of Dalhousie University.
David Gingras
Senior Editor
After prior work experience that includes policy development and analysis in healthcare and municipal affairs, David has developed expertise in the cannabis industry, from agricultural hemp products to full-scale recreational use and its legal evolution in the United States.
“This is a fascinating topic, even more so because of Canada’s legalization at the federal level. Indeed, I’ll often text links to myself to read later.”
David says that when his children were younger they didn’t understand what “researcher” or “legal industry” entailed, so he told them he was a spy for companies that wanted him to track their competition and report on what they were doing. It made for some strange encounters with neighbors who thought he was involved in what amounts to corporate espionage.
David holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Master of Public Administration degree, as well as NACLAA (National Advanced Certificate in Local Authority Administration) certification.
Kelly MacDonald-Mason
Senior Editor
With a focus on health insurance and regulatory reform, Kelly has hunted for information on everything from technology to social issues.
“I really enjoy working on futurecasting briefings. I get to look into a variety of topics that may impact my client down the road. This allows for a lot of diversity in the topics I am researching.”
Creating daily and weekly briefings for American insurance companies, Kelly develops a rapport with her clients to get a better feel for who they are and what they want.
Kelly has many interests and hobbies outside of work. She has ridden and shown horses since she was a child and now shares that passion with her daughter. She is also involved with her local arts community.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Saint Mary’s University and a Degree in Print Journalism from Holland College.
Sophie MacGowan
Senior Editor
Sophie MacGowan provides market intelligence briefings to clients in the Canadian health and life insurance sectors.
“My clients are mostly interested in industry news and developments indicative of competitor performance and strategy, including membership and market share, financial results, leadership changes, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions and new products and offerings.”
Other insurance topics that Sophie covers include group health benefits and related issues like prescribing trends, health management and delivery topics, marketing strategies, customer experience, and policy and regulatory issues. She follows insurance technology like healthcare data and analytics, electronic health records (EHRs), and innovations designed to bring efficiencies to the current insurance industry model.
Prior to LAC Group, Sophie worked in corporate communications and broadcast journalism. She is a former broadcast journalist and an award-winning corporate communications / public relations professional. Sophie enjoys running and has run three marathons and several half-marathons. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Ottawa.
Stephen Wood
Senior Market Intelligence Editor
As a market intelligence editor, Stephen Wood delivers market intelligence briefings to clients in the legal industry, currently focused on US federal court litigation decisions.
Stephen has prior work experience as Social Media Analyst for Salesforce’s Radian6 social listening tool. He holds a Law and Security Administration Diploma from Loyalist College.
Empowering clients to be their best
Kelly MacDonald-Mason says the best thing she hears from clients is that her work has made them look good.
Clients appreciate how LAC Group’s analysts are able to emphasize the most relevant information and make it easily digestible and actionable. The concept of separating the signal from the noise applies; as noted by Sarah Duncan:
“I track over 400 companies, scrolling through various sources to find relevant content. I like to break up my scans with writing and editing; deadlines also force me to remain focused.”
The ability to focus and organize tasks are important skills of LAC Group’s competitive intelligence professionals. As Kelly MacDonald-Mason says,
“I think about the client and their end goal, need or interest. I also divide up my tasks, as I find it easier if I am focused on one thing at a time.”
Many of our researchers and analysts have journalism degrees and experience, which we have found to be a strong foundation. Journalists are highly skilled at framing and asking the right questions, remaining on-topic and meeting deadlines.
LAC Group is proud of our entire competitive intelligence team in Canada and happy to tell you more about them. This experienced group of analysts and editors is ready to begin delivering value to any law firm or business in need of a competitive edge.
Related links
