ARCTIC OBITER

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PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE nly roughly 10% of all discipline complaints received O in Ontario are because of legal errors. The vast majority arise because of ineffective client communication and poor office management. The story is the same across most of the country. The mandate of the Federation of law Societies is to serve the public interest; a mandate shared by every law society including our own. Two keys aspects of that mandate are strengthening the profession’s system of self- governance and reinforcing public confidence in it. Clearly a reduction in the types of issues that lead to complaints will both strengthen the profession and have the corollary effective of improving public confidence. That we must achieve these goals in an ever globalizing world was a central topic of the March semi- annual conference of the Federation of Law Societies in Quebec City, attended by our Vice-President Karen Wilford, Federation representative Sheila MacPherson, Executive Director Linda Whitford and myself. The Conference Caroline G. Wawzonek was an opportunity to exchange ideas, hear innovative solutions to shared challenges, and identify helpful resources. I would like to provide you with a few highlights: Access to justice remains a high priority for the Federation. The point was made that lawyers providing services to the most vulnerable and too frequently under-served members of the public are themselves often the most at risk for professional complaints and/or personal health issues, which in turn can lead to complaints. One aspect of supporting access to justice is, therefore, to support the lawyers who provide the “front line” services. These groups include sole practitioners, young lawyers and others who operate a high volume practice, and lawyers in rural settings with fewer similarly situated colleagues. The point is not to single these groups out only at the stage when a complaint is already coming in. The importance of identifying high risk groups is to ensure that the Law Society is adequately performing its role by providing these groups of lawyers with sufficient practice management supports. Several law societies have extensive online information targeting the needs and issues that members of these groups may face. Alberta has launched SoloNet as an online forum to encourage sole practitioners or lawyers in rural settings to seek and establish connections with colleagues. In British Columbia, articling students are required to spend an hour with a bencher, which hopefully creates a foundation for seeking future mentoring from other practitioners. There are also creative supports to help lawyers balance the demands of practice against the rest of their lives. For example, in Quebec, the legal profession, the Minister of Justice and the judiciary signed a declaration in support of family life balance. Anecdotally, lawyers have successfully relied on the declaration in circumstance when they felt they were being pressured to work hours that made their life balance untenable. Several law societies make available practice advisors who not only can provide advice to lawyers with specific practice questions, but will also assist a lawyer to establish (or reestablish) good office management systems. One other key message for all lawyers is that a duty exists for all of us to help support our colleagues in the legal profession. Obviously this includes making time for formal mentoring, both mentors and potential mentees, but it can also be far more casual and day-to-day. It may be as simple as taking time for a coffee with a colleague when you have a hunch that something is wrong. We owe it to ourselves and the profession we share to take those few moments and check in with ourselves and each other. 2 ■ MARCH/APRIL 2013 ARCTIC OBITER
CBA-NT BAR NOTES ’d like to begin by congratulating Elaine Keenan Bengts I on receiving the CBA’s Doug Miller Award. The local branch was pleased to nominate Elaine, and her win demonstrates how lawyers from small jurisdictions can make a significant contribution both locally and nationally through the CBA. Also, congratulations to Secretary-Treasurer Karin Taylor on her receipt of a Diamond Jubilee medal. Karin’s extensive community involvement, including her work with the CBA, was acknowledged with this award. On the topic of awards, our local branch is seeking nominations for the CBA-NT Community Service Award. This award recognizes a CBA member who is an active volunteer and contributes significantly to the broader community. To nominate a deserving CBA Member, please contact the office at (867) 669-7739. Since my last column, the election for 2 nd Vice-President of CBA Nationally has been completed, and Janet Fuhrer was the successful candidate. I congratulate Janet and thank both her and Paul Sweeny for putting their names forward, and for bringing their campaigns to Yellowknife. Later this spring, your local CBA branch will be seeking candidates for the position of Secretary- Treasurer. This is a ladder position, which ultimately results in being CBA-NT President. My time on the Executive has been fun and fulfilling and I encourage all members to consider putting their name forward when the call for nominations is issued. Glen W. Rutland Locally, the CBA is partnering with several organizations to bring interesting events and topics to our members. On May 1, the Young Lawyers Division is partnering with the Association in Defence of the Wrongfully Convicted (AIDWYC) to give a presentation on their work and seek volunteers in the NWT. Also on that same day, the CBA is partnering with the local NWT chapter of the Institute of Public Administration of Canada for a presentation from Nitya Iyer, a lawyer and Equal Pay Commissioner for the Northwest Territories. In my last column, I mentioned that I would provide an update on several national initiatives. CBA National is hosting the Envisioning Equal Justice Summit in Vancouver at the end of April. This is part of a broad initiative by CBA’s Access to Justice Committee to ensure that everyone, regardless of income level, must be able to use the remedies that Canadian laws and the legal system provide. For more information, visit cba.org/CBA/Access/ main/. The second major national initiative is the Futures Initiative, chaired by CBA Vice- President Fred Headon. This initiative is designed to help understand the massive change that is impacting the environment lawyers practice in, and to identify ideas, approaches, practical tools and resources that members can use to structure their practices and delivery of legal services for success. More information will be coming as work in this area progresses. Finally a thank you to Karin Taylor, our Young Lawyers Division, and all members who helped out with Law Week activities. This is a high-profile CBA event which allows lawyers to give back to the community. Activities included a food drive, public presentation, charity bake sale, and the resurrection of Law Line for the week of April 15-19, 2013. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at glen_rutland@gov.nt.ca or (867) 920-3225. ARCTIC OBITER MARCH/APRIL 2013 ■ 3
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Page 9 and 10: WILLS SEMINAR DRAWS A CROWD Yellowk
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