topicsbclma.org/wp-content/uploads/bclma-topics-2008-1winter.pdf · topics † winter 2007/2008 †...

BY TIM WURTZBAKER NEWBY LLP

Did you know that a Vancouverlaw firm employs a dog? That’sright. This cute little pooch

quite clearly lists his employer as amajor downtown firm. Innocentenough, I suppose.

Another promi-nent Vancouverfirm has a legal as-s i s t a n t w h o s es t r i p p e r n a m ewould be “RyanFirehips.” Kind ofrisqué. But what’sthe harm?

A downtownlegal assistant has just advised thatshe is “sitting in on another loooongand boring law seminar. Yech.” Law

firm’s name is clearly available. This is getting interesting.Yet another law firm has a legal as-

sistant that lists her occupation as

“Conveyance Slave”, right there un-derneath the name of her employer.

Ouch. That must hurt.Rebecca (no, it’s not her real name,

but I know what it is) is playingScrabulous, an on-line, interactivegame, with Jason. It’s 11:35 am.

Have they taken a late coffeebreak? Perhaps an early lunch?

Welcome to one of the several so-cial networking sites now on a com-puter near you, Facebook.

Facebook is the brainchild of MarkZuckerberg who, in about three years,has turned this Internet directoryservice and social networking websiteinto an international phenomenon.

In just minutes, you can create apersonal profile, provide a cornu-copia of personal information, up-load pictures, search for friends whohave profiles, and engage in light-hearted exchanges with other Face-book users.

But it goes much beyond that toinclude “mini-games” and add-onapplications within Facebook. Youcan join “groups”

TOPICS • WINTER 2007/2008 • BC LEGAL MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION • WWW.BCLMA.ORG • MEMBER SERVICES: [email protected]

A NEWSLETTER TO HELP OUR MEMBERS AND PARTNERS KEEP CURRENT ABOUT THE BUSINESS OF LAW WINTER 2007/2008

�� topicstopics

Social networking an open book

Facebook, you and the employee profile

Employee Retention: Another chapter in our ongoing discussion

Continued on page 2 �

BY MIKE BOWERBANKBLAKES

If I were to tell you all the thingsthat I have heard from people onemployee-retention policies, there

is not one new thing I can say thatyou haven’t already heard.

So if this is the case, why-oh-whycan’t you stop the revolving door,and put the brakes on staff turnover?

Every firm in town says that em-ployees are valuable, and most saythat their compensation and benefitsare competitive with the other firmsin town.

When someone says they are‘competitive’, they are essentially

saying they’re pretty much the sameas other firms. So these firms areboasting that they’re average. Not agood sales job, and this illustrates thecore of the problem.

It’s one thing to say that your em-ployees are valuable, but it is quite adifferent thing to actually live andbreathe that philosophy. Employeesare a critical part of making thingswork, so why, then, are firms so badat showing it?

There is no magic formula, andthis is not a situation whereby youcan send out a memo or an e-mailand fix things. It’s not about chang-ing policy, it’s about changing yourthinking— Continued on page 6 �

Tim Wurtz

“I let the LAA students in on this seemingly dirty little secret. You should have seen their faces.”

MOD

ELLO

CATE

http://www.bclma.org

mailto:[email protected]?Subject=Winter issue of BCLMA Topics





with similar interests; engage in arole-play version of a vampire-slay-ing game; send a friend Booze Mail ora Hatching Egg gift that “grows” overseveral days; attack a friend’s “pet”in the Pet Sabotage section; create“quizzes” for friends, or try theirs;Pick a Fight with a friend, using somecolorful phrases provided; send someBumper Stickers; get the image of aDaily Babe… the list goes on and on—and on.

Admittedly, it is not difficult to seehow one could become captivated bythe curiosity of the content as well asthe anonymous access to other users’content.

To say it is addicting is not astretch.

While researching and writing thisarticle, I have spent quite a bit of timesurfing Facebook, and find myself re-sisting the temptation to participate—everyone seems to be doing it.

So instead, I participate covertly:fake name, fake GMail address, fakepictures, fake personal info andvoila—real access.

I have done this to explore two ma-jor issues:1. Are staff using their employers’

time, computers and money to ac-cess social networking sites?

2. What characteristics of existing orprospective staff are reflected inthe content of their Facebook pro-file?The first question is the easier of

the two. Your firm likely has an Inter-net policy, and better yet, one which

staff are required to sign upon joiningthe firm.

It should simply and clearly ex-plain that “Internet access is a toolprovided by the firm, and is to beused for business-related purposesonly. Participation in social network-ing sites, such as Facebook and My-Space, is strictly forbidden.”

If you feel a policy is only as good asthe paper it is written on, then you cer-tainly have the ability to restrict accessto certain sites at the file server level.

A search on particular law firms’names only shows those profiles thatare unprotected—otherwise, full ac-cess.

Searching for my own firm dis-plays seven staff with full access. Alittle surfing through their friends’lists, and I find at least 18 more staffwith protected profiles. That’s 25—and we’re a relatively small office!

A search of a few of the biggest lawfirms in Vancouver (noted in the 2007Business in Vancouver Book of Lists) re-veals more than 60 unprotected pro-files, which, through friend networks,would likely show hundreds of active


2


� Facebook and you : Continued from page 1

“Searching for myown firm displays

seven staff with full access. A little surfing

through their friends’lists, and I find at

least 18 more”

http://www.totallegaljobs.ca



participants in those law firms withprotected profiles.

If these Facebook members arechecking their profiles and using thewebsite’s applications during theday, this represents a major drain onproductivity throughout our work-force.

But perhaps a firm-wide restrictionmay not be the answer. Administra-tors and lawyers have found Face-book to be a gold mine of informa-tion—which leads to the interestingsecond issue.

Facebook and its ilk present a newarsenal of tools to administrators andlawyers. For lawyers, there was a No-vember 20 article in The Lawyers Week-ly, entitled “Social networking goldmine: panning for nuggets on Face-book and MySpace.”

In the article, lawyers weighed inon the value that these types of web-sites can have to a case including,“discrediting a parent in a custodyhearing who may have posted inflam-matory photos, or calling into ques-tion testimony from a witness whose

reputation is potentially tarnished bycomments they made online.” The ar-ticle suggests that evidence procuredfrom social networking sites would

likely be admissible in court depend-ing on the context of the particular sit-uation. If it’s good enough for thecourts, it has to be good enough forus.

A more specific application for ad-ministrators, or human-resourcemanagers, is in the field of recruiting.

The Lawyers Weekly article readily con-cedes that the legal community is us-ing social networking sites to find outinformation about prospective hires.

If someone has placed themselveson Facebook or MySpace, they are im-plying consent to view personal infor-mation they have provided.

You can gather valuable insightinto a person simply by examiningwhat information they share aboutthemselves. As HR professionals, wewould never make a decision basedsolely on one reference source, ofcourse, but this is simply one moreway for us to paint a full picture of apotential applicant. If someone ap-plies for a job, they are conceding anyanonymity they may enjoy from so-cial networking sites.

I recently spoke to a classroom ofCDI students who will be graduatingfrom their LAA program early thisyear. I let them in on this seeminglydirty little secret. You should haveseen their faces. It became glaringlyobvious to them that they would like-ly be embarrassed to know that I, aprospective employer, could be look-


3� Facebook and you : Continued from page 2

If someone hasplaced themselves on

Facebook orMySpace, they are

implying consent toview personal

information theyhave provided.


http://www.dyedurhambc.com

mailto:[email protected]?Subject=Your ad in the Winter Issue of BCLMA topics





4ing at the content in their Facebookprofile.

In addition to our own recruiting

efforts, professional recruiters aresavvy to this powerful network.When one legal secretary with a fullyexposed profile suggested a “LegalAssistants Group” in her Discussionarea, the first two response postscame from recruiting agencies. Thefifth post was from a recruiter in-forming the group that she had set upher own group specifically for legalsecretaries looking for employment.

Further to this organic profession-al recruiting, companies can placeemployment ads that will be directedto specific users—a “Legal AssistantsGroup”, for example.

I went through the motions ofplacing an employment ad on Face-book, which works much like GoogleAdWords, complete with a dailybudget and a bid-per-click.

I suspect recruiters are undertak-ing some ad campaigns, but onemight want to consider if this type ofrecruiting effort reflects a profession-alism that our firms strive to uphold.

Disclosing social network sites aspotential information sources may beyesterday’s news to you.

What I also want to do is appeal tothose who use the site so that theymay fully appreciate how their as-sumed innocence can be quickly cor-rupted by business, and used againstthem, in this increasingly scarce qual-ified employee pool.

Valparaiso University’s websitecites John Palfrey, lecturer and execu-tive director of the Berkman Centre forInternet and Society at Harvard Uni-versity Law School, who suggests that,

“You should presume that anybodyfrom whom you want something inthe future could see [your] profile.”

Palfrey cites a front-page story inthe June 11, 2006 edition of the NewYork Times, “For Some, Online Per-sona Undermines a Resumé” that re-ports applicants, “may not knowwhen they have been passed up foran interview or a job offer because ofsomething a recruiter saw on theInternet.”

Career counsellors are encouragingtoday’s university students to reviewtheir Facebook profiles to avoid just

this type of pre-screening profiling.Social networking sites should

not be ignored, and they are not go-ing to go away. Whether you chooseto restrict employee access, pre-screen applicants, check up on cur-rent staff, or actively engage in re-cruiting, social networking sitessimply present another set of toolsto help guide your business andmanagement decisions.

By the way, I take no responsibilityif you become addicted to Facebookas a result of reading this article andexploring on your own.

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� Facebook and you : Continued from page 3

W e specialize in helping firms publish business-to-busi-ness newsletters, the only type of direct marketing your

customers or clients read every time it lands on their desk or ap-pears in their e-mail. Done right, newsletters repeatedly sellyour firm’s image, expertise and position in the marketplace,whether your client is ready to buy your services now, or later.Thinking about starting a newsletter for clients? We can help.Want a hand in publishing your existing newsletter? We canhelp give you exactly the support you need to achieve yourmarketing goals. We’re also good at helping to publish internalcorporate newsletters and publications. We’ve gained 20 yearsof experience in corporate mass-marketing, newsletters, publicrelations and direct mail. Having trouble with your newsletter?We can help figure out why. Call, write or e-mail now.

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mailto:[email protected]?Subject=Your ad in the Winter issue of BCLMA Topics



BY TIM WURTZBAKER NEWBY LLP

There’s an old saying, often misat-tributed to Winston Churchill,which goes something like: “If

you’re not a liberal at 20, you have noheart; if you’re not a conservative at40, you have no brain.”

Well, it’s a good thing most of theroom was smart and over 40, becausewe were treated to some great JeanChrétien jokes at this year’s Manag-ing Partner Dinner.

The Terminal City Club provided abeautiful venue for the well-attendeddinner last October 18. Conversationeasily alternated between manage-ment techniques and philosophies,and current legal issues and strategiesfavoured by the managing partners.

Event co-sponsor Laura Reid, of Ar-lyn Reid, provided an eloquent intro-duction for the guest speaker, MichaelCampbell, one of BC’s best-knownbusiness analysts, who held the room’sundivided attention for a full hour.

Mr. Campbell, amongst well-timeda n e c d o t e sa b o u t t h eshortcomingsof Jean Chré-tien’s econom-ic policies, de-l i v e r e d h i spredictions forf u t u r e e c o -nomic and in-vestment suc-c e s s w i t heloquence andcharisma. Heliked gold, andhe thought a$100 barrel ofoil was not a

far stretch in the near future, whichcame true two months later.

Dave Macfarlane of TOS Hub In-ternational closed the presentation bythanking Mr. Campbell.

The evening was also filled withthe odd outburst of that well-knownslogan, That was easy, courtesy of theEasy Buttons everyone received fromArlyn Reid.

Stephanie Cornell, while poppingin and out of her Marketing CocktailReception, held the same evening,graciously allowed me to borrow hercamera for these candid shots.

This was my first Managing Partner’sDinner. I was impressed and will defi-nitely attend again next year.

I look forward to seeing my col-leagues there.


5Managing Partners Dinner

Operating philosophies, management issuesand current legal issues—just part of the fun

Stephen Danvers, Arlyn Reid, withAnita Parke, Thorsteinssons LLP

Adnan Habib, Baker Newby LLP

Victor MontaglianiTOS Hub International

Caren Cook of Slater Vecchio (left)and Paula Keiss,

formerly of Mandell Pinder

John Brown and Leslie Morgan, both of Harper Grey LLP




6


and that’s where most firms are fail-ing the grade.

ATTITUDE IS ALTITUDERaf Sansalone, the Human Re-

sources Manager of Borden LadnerGervais LLP, enjoys a relatively lowstaff turnover rate. I asked her whatsecret is. It turns out the people in thefirm don’t have a secret—they justhave an attitude.

“Simply saying that people arevaluable is not enough, you have toactually live that,” Sansalone says.“No matter how much you paypeople, if they don’t feel respectedand listened to, it contributes to themlooking elsewhere, and being disen-gaged in their work.”

Raf agrees that every firm is dif-ferent and what works for one or-ganization will not necessarily worklike a cookie-cutter in others. Look-ing at BC Business Magazine’s “Top 20Employers” list is also fine, but eventhough Telus and VanCity may havesome excellent employee-retentionstrategies, many of their programswouldn’t necessarily come across aswell in a legal environment.

Obviously, we can’t be all thingsto all people. You have to figure outwhat works for your own individualfirm, and go with it. When you pro-pose something to a CEO or a chiefoperating officer, their first question

is often, “What are other firms do-ing?” That’s self-defeating; if youcopy what other firms are doing, youare simply replacing your revolving-door policy for theirs.

When Sansalone is asked whatother firms are doing, her answer isstraight-forward: “I don’t know, andhow does that matter to us? I’drather be the leader than wait forsomeone else to do it and then followbehind them.”

STABILITY FROM TOP TO BOTTOMThe whole firm has to contribute

to an environment in which peoplewant to stay and work hard. A lot ofthat comes from the management ofthe firm.

What Sansalone recognizes as awinning equation is that stability atthe top equals stability below.

“A firm is a firm is a firm,” Sansa-lone says, “A conveyancer will dothe same sort of work no matterwhat firm they’re in. People don’tquit their jobs, they quit their boss.”

When there is managementturnover, staff turnover usually fol-lows shortly thereafter. When man-agers stay for long periods of time,their staff often stays with them too.

“We are fortunate in that we havesome long-term managers here,”says Sansalone.

But simply retaining managers isnot enough. The role of the managershould change as well. Managers

need to pay attention to what’s goingon in the firm; to keep their fingerson the proverbial pulse. Managersand supervisors need to be well-trained in their jobs, have proficientsoft skills, and they have to be goodleaders.

“It goes without saying that evena good manager won’t accomplishthe desired results without the sup-port of the business owners—thepartners and, in particular, the man-aging partner,” Sansalone warns,“Our partners provide leadership,and they support senior managers increating a professional and service- oriented environment.”

PERKS HELP, BUT THERE’S A CATCHPaying employees well is impor-

tant, but it’s only a part of the com-pensation package.

Flex-time, job-shares, reduced workweeks, training programs, a solid ben-efits package, and good vacation poli-cies are all equally important to em-ployees. If the firmtakes the initiativeand offers coursesin stress manage-ment, soft skills,parenting tips andother wellness ini-tiatives, thenpeople will feeleven more valued.

These frills andextras are allgood, but too often there are manypeople who can’t seem to take ad-vantage of them. These employeesneed to be identified so their work-load issues can be addressed. No-body is productive when they areburnt out or on disability.

Lawyers and managers each needto recognize that offering a world offringe benefits is useless if staff arenot given time and opportunity toenjoy them.

ECONOMICS 101: KEEPING THEHELP IS GOOD FOR BOTTOM LINE

The firm invests heavily in its em-ployees when they hire them. Theylearn your policies, procedures andculture, and it takes time before theyare truly productive.

If they are unhappy and leave thefirm, then

� Employee retention: Continued from page 1

TOUGH TIMES, SHORT WORK: “A firm is a firm is a firm,” BLG’s Raf Sansalonesays, “A conveyancer will do the same sort of work no matter what firmthey’re in. People don’t quit their jobs, they quit their boss.”


Mike Bowerbank

mailto:[email protected]?Subject=Winter Issue of BCLMA Topics



BY ANTONIO ZIVANOVICCORPORATE OCCUPATIONAL

SOLUTIONS INC.

Attrition rates are astounding. Re-cent studies have shown that up-

wards of 15% of associates are highlymobile and display little long-termloyalty to their firms.

Gone are the dayswhen an associate arti-cles, becomes a partner,and finally retires-all atthe same firm.

Data generated in 2005and analyzed by the Na-tional Association for Le-gal Placement (NALP) in-dicates that 78% ofassociates will move to asecond firm in their firstfive years as a profession-al. The cost to the firm ofan associate jumpingship ranges anywherefrom $200,000 to$500,000, according toKristin K. Stark, a direc-tor with Hildebrandt In-ternational. That amountis connected to originalrecruiting costs, sunkentraining and develop-ment costs, resourceshortage and replace-ment costs, administra-tive and human resourcecosts, and other factors.In addition, firms faceother non-financial lossesas a result of associate at-trition, including the po-tential for client dissatisfaction withturnover and the negative impact onfirm morale-both of which can quick-ly manifest into hard dollar signs ifnot carefully managed.

What can be done to slow downthis rapid “revolving door” in whichmany professional members of GenX, Y, and Z find themselves? Foster-ing retention is a serious fiscal re-sponsibility, and several bottom-line

approaches can be used to address it.Competitive salaries are offered by

many firms to recruit and retain top tal-ent. But with associates leaving six-fig-ure positions in surprising numbers,something more must be going on.

The answer is simple: while moneyis important to free agents, associates

also need to know that their firms areinterested in having their employeesachieve a productive work-life bal-ance. Programs that bring “life” towork are financially smart as well asvital to associate recruitment, reten-tion, and productivity.

RETAIN ASSOCIATES INEXPENSIVELYThe legal industry has been slow to

address recruitment and retention

problems by offering robust work-place health & wellness programs,even though such programs haveproven to be lucrative investments.

Addressing rising health-care costsand “presenteeism” losses, retainingrecent recruits, and handling aging-employee populations are among themany ongoing tasks of a human-re-sources department.

Workplace health & wellness pro-grams that foster work-life balancesimplify all these tasks, yet some stilldoubt that providing them couldhave any economic payoff. Why?

Statistics on the legalindustry’s top health &wellness programs arenot readily available.This doesn’t mean thatthe payoff of achievingwork-life balance ismythical; some of theworld’s most successfulcompanies in other sec-tors achieve notable re-turns on spending to pro-mote this balance.

Canada Life Insur-ance, for example, hasshown a return on invest-ment (ROI) of $7.15 forevery dollar invested inhealth promotion over a10-year period.

The first five years ofthe Johnson & JohnsonLive For Life program net-ted over $1 million insavings. Recent meta-evaluations have cited anaverage ROI of $6.30 forevery dollar invested inemployee health & well-ness programs. The num-bers are real, and attest tothe positive indirect fi-nancial results in terms ofimproved morale, easier

recruitment, increased employee sat-isfaction and productivity, and signif-icantly lower attrition.

With such a good ROI, everyoneshould consider running such pro-grams: they significantly help associ-ate recruitment and retention, and de-monstrate your firm’s willingness totruly bring work-life balance to theworkplace.

Some firms


7Achieving work-life balance

Health & Wellness programs a large part of thesolution to law firms’ Human Resources puzzle


HEALTH & WELLNESS PROGRAMSMEASURABLE BY RESULTS

In the previous article, we learned that employee retention canbe linked to the positive and progressive attitude of the lawfirm as well as the cultivation of stellar top-level, or senior-

management teams. We were reminded of various perks that both attract and retain

employees: competitive or better than average salaries, flex-hoursand an excellent benefits package.

One perk has yet to gain widespread popularity, the health &wellness program, an essential tool in law firm employee reten-tion—particularly when it comes to associates whose typical de-parture costs add up to the millions for any given firm in anygiven year. Not surprisingly, law firms spend hundreds of thou-sands of dollars on associate recruitment, since such efforts yieldtangible results: colourful advertisements in glossy legal jour-nals, interviews with candidates, progress reports and ulti-mately a new hire.

Retention initiatives don’t appear to bear the same fruit,hence, less dollars spent. However, the benefits of a successfulhealth & wellness program can be measured, savings can be real-ized and the bottom line improved. And what, to a managingpartner or executive committee is more tangible than profits?

We are pleased to present the first of a five-part series that willoutline and explore the numerous aspects of planning, imple-menting, and maximizing a mutually-beneficial health & well-ness program in a law firm.

If you have any questions about these programs, feel free to con-tact the author at the e-mail address following this article. — Editor





8provide annual stipends to supportassociates’ healthy-lifestyle efforts.The ROI on this deliverable, how-ever, is difficult to measure. If thegoal is to provide an employee perk,then the purpose is well-served.

If, however, the point is to in-crease adherence or motivation to ex-ercise, thus leading to a healthierlifestyle and better employee reten-tion and productivity, then the suc-cess is less obvious.

In articles later this year, we’ll ex-plore why the legal industry lags inthis potentially profitable area. Wewill also address what must be doneto run a successful health & wellnessprogram in the workplace. Some ofthe questions we’ll examine in thisseries include:� How a law firm can launch a com-

prehensive health and wellnessprogram;

� What can be measured for such aprogram, and what they look likefor a firm;

� When financial returns of such

programs become evident; and,� The benefits of a truly participa-

tory approach to corporate programming.

OTHER PATHS TO GREATERBENEFITS

Other approaches focus on achiev-ing specific results, and lead togreater financial benefits. For exam-ple, by strategically targeting alifestyle-enhancement program, indi-viduals can be diverted from a “dis-ease track,” thereby reducing the or-ganization’s exposure.

Offering a simple “lunch & learn”session, or a potentially good servicesupported by little buy-in from sen-ior partners, will not do the job.Championing a health & wellnessprogram is one way to achieve suc-cess.

A program can include several ap-proaches, depending on an organiza-tion’s size, needs and objectives.Here are several specific initiativesthat can be used by a progressivefirm of any size:� Drawing on HR data in structur-

ing a program; � Using a corporate culture assess-

ment tool;� Implementing processes to be

measured, such as an annual one-hour health appraisal;

� Aligning employee health & well-ness initiatives with corporatebusiness objectives;

� On-site cholesterol testing (via the“finger poke” method of stickingyour finger with a special needle,called a lancet, to get a drop ofblood);

� Health education through target-ed wellness seminars;

� Establishing an employee health& wellness committee;

� Implementing programs that con-tain a competitive element;

� Offering benefit-linked financialincentives.This list is a good place to start in

tailoring a program to an organiza-tion’s needs, and can be easily imple-mented via a strategic plan.

Bear in mind that most, if not all,workplace health & wellness initia-

� Health & Wellness: Continued from page 7


http://www.sai.ca



tives directly or indirectly sup-port employee recruitment andretention. Hundreds of thou-sands of dollars are spent onrecruitment each year, but thenmost firms go on to under-in-vest in health-and-productivi-ty management efforts thatcould retain recruits.

Associates face great pres-sures in the BlackBerry era, andmanaging the knowledgeeconomy can be stressful. Cli-ent expectations of instant-service delivery and greaterlawyer mobility are changingthe legal industry.

Firms face great challengesin warding off client dissatis-faction in the face of high asso-ciate turnover, yet the connec-tion between associateretention and providing a bal-anced work-life environment isoften ignored.

Retaining an associate in ahighly mobile marketplace is achallenge, but the challenge

will be reduced when a work-place culture is created thatsupports associates’ personaland professional goals.

A CHALLENGE TO THEINDUSTRY

Recall the statistics:� 15% of associates are high-ly mobile and less motivatedby long-term firm loyalty;� 78% of associates will jumpship in their first five years;� Each lost associate costsyour firm $200,000 to $500,000.

Strategically targeting as-sociate retention means youmust address the work-lifebalance issue genuinely andeffectively.

Many associates face realchallenges in productivelyachieving such balance,which can lead to an in-creased staff turnover rateas well as costly presen-teeism losses. Simply pro-viding monetary bonuseswill not replace the provi-


9� Health, Wellness: Con’t from page 8


http://www.ricoh.ca



BY PAULA BUTLER, LAWYER

Here’s the case we posed to you last issue, followedby a selection of responses from the members of theBCLMA. On the right is a new scenario for you to

judge, and, below it, are instructions on how to let usknow what you would do in that situation. Paula Butleris a sole practioner who specializes in labour and em-ployment law from her office in West Vancouver.

THE CASE OF TOM & ANDY

Tom is a new employee in the mail room at the firm, in his firstfull-time job. Andy, a first-year associate, starts chatting

with Tom one day and they realize that they share a mutual pas-sion for trail riding. They occasionally meet for coffee and lunchto talk aboutbikes and biketrips. On one oftheir coffees to-gether, Andyputs his handon Tom’s kneeand suggeststhat they get to-gether on theweekend. Tomis taken aback,and quicklymentions thathe and his girl-friend are busyall weekend.Andy continues to make overtures to Tom, commenting thatTom must look good in his bike shorts, and suggesting that thetwo of them do some biking together. Tom is increasingly un-comfortable with this behaviour, but he cannot bring himself totalk to his supervisor about it. Then, Andy gets drunk at a firmsocial and puts his arm around Tom and starts whispering inand kissing Tom’s ear.

You are the firm’s Administrator. You see this happen, andsee that Tom is embarrassed and uncomfortable.

What do you do in this situation?

Hi, this is Paula. Only one person wrote in with a com-ment on this one, which is likely indicative of how un-comfortable this situation makes many people.

While it may be uncomfortable, it is still important todeal with the situation in the workplace. Not dealing withharassment can lead to sick time, Human Rights Tribunalcomplaints, a decrease of productivity, and many othernegative outcomes. Whether the situation involves twoemployees of different genders, or the same gender, itmust be dealt with.

My comments are in italics.


10YOU BE THE JUDGEOur new scenario—tell us what you’d do in:

THE CASE OF BEATRICE & JIM

You are the Ac-counting Manag-

er at Dunhill &Gideon, Barristers &Solicitors. Last Sep-tember, you hired JimJohnson, a young ac-counting clerk. Jim re-ports to Beatrice Alli-son, who is known tobe a tough and de-manding supervisor.Beatrice starts com-plaining about Jim al-most right away, say-ing that he is “slowand lazy.” You cantell by Jim’s de-meanour at work thathe is not happy, andthat he seems to resentBeatrice. Today, your assis-tant came in to your officeto tell you to look at a web address which turned out to be forJim’s blog. On the blog, you see that the latest entry is titled“Working at Dumbbell and Idiot, Barristers & Solicitors.”The entry is Jim’s description of working at a “sweatshop”with a bunch of “boneheads” at “Dumbbell and Idiot.” Jimalso writes a paragraph about being a “slave” to his “bitch” ofa boss, “Beatus Allthetime” who makes his life miserable. It isclear to you that anyone associated with the legal communitywould know exactly who Jim talking about.

What do you do in this situation?

HOW TO BE OUR JUDGE

This feature of Topics, compiled by Vancouver lawyer PaulaButler, is designed to get you thinking about workplace sce-

narios that might happen—or have happened—to you.Read the case above, aimed at challenging your manage-

ment ability. Then, click here <http://www.BCLMA.org> to godirectly to the BCLMA website. On the home page, click on theRespond to Topics Scenario button to arrive at the You BeThe Judge response form. Describe how you would answerthe question at the end of the scenario. Submissions are100% anonymous. Neither sender’s name nor the firm’sname will be revealed to the editors—only your re-sponse. Next edition, we’ll print a selection of your anony-mous responses—and provide a new scenario.

��


Andy’s drunk, and Tom is embarrassed and uncomfortable

Beatrice, you and your assistant look at Jim’s blog

YVON

NEBO

GDAN

SKI

mailto:[email protected]?Subject=You Be the Judge - Winter Issue - BCLMA Topics



RESPONSE: A DIFFICULT ANDDELICATE SITUATION

This is such a delicate situation. Iwouldn’t even know where to start.Help!

This is a delicate situation. How-ever, it should be dealt with in the sameway that any situ-a t i on invo lv ingunwanted sexualadvances is dealtwith.

Your firm has alegal obligation un-der Human Rightslegislation to pro-vide a workplacefree from sexual ha-rassment; ignoringwhat you have seen is not a good idea.To begin with, it is important to deter-mine whether Tom really was uncom-fortable with Andy’s behaviour.

Speaking to Tom is a good first step.If Tom is uncomfortable, and wouldlike Andy to stop his behaviour, youcan offer Tom three options: � Coach Tom to help him approach

Andy to voice his concerns; � Sit down with Tom and Andy and as-

sist Tom in voicing his concerns; or � Speak to Andy directly and ask him

to stop the behaviour.

Once Tom has chosen an option, youwill need to ensure that action is taken.If the behaviour continues after Andyhas been spoken to, a more formal ap-proach will need to be taken.

If your firm has a harassment policy,it will likely provide a process for fur-ther action.

If your firm doesn’t have a policy, itwould need to beaddressed like anyother potential dis-c ip l inary s i tua-tion: the facts re-garding what hasoccurred need to bedetermined.

If the harass-ment continues,Andy would receivea written warning,

and perhaps harassment-sensitivitytraining, to ensure that the behaviourstops.

LOOK AT OUR NEW SCENARIOYour comments help all of us bet-

ter understand our workplace. Don’t forget to read the Case of

Beatrice & Jim, our scenario for this is-sue, on page 10. Let us know yoursuggestions about how you wouldsolve that workplace problem, andwe’ll provide your comments in thenext issue of Topics.


11

“As a matter of fact, Accounting is working on your cheque now.”

� Beatrice &. Jim – Continued from page 10

sion of on-site health & wellnessservices.

Suppose your firm was able to im-prove retention by just 10% in 2008by implementing a workplace health& wellness program. Imagine thehuge savings that would accrue.

It’s time to invest in human capitaland health & wellness, and followthe example of leaders in other industries.

Antonio Zivanovic is President ofCorporate Occupational Solutions Inc., aworkplace health & wellness servicesprovider. Prior to launching his ownfirm, Antonio was a consultant for lead-ing public and private sector firms acrossCanada. Visit his website at<http://www.cosinc.ca>; or e-mail him at [email protected]

� Health & Wellness: Continued from page 9

It is important todetermine whether

Tom really wasuncomfortable withAndy’s behaviour.

the firm has just lost an asset inwhich they invested. In order toget a return on that investment,then just like any other invest-ment portfolio, you have toadapt to changing conditions inthe marketplace, and continue toinvest to make your asset grow.Invest in your employees andthey, too, will grow and generategreater returns for the firmthrough productivity gains andreduced turnover.

As managers and administra-tors, we need to remember thatour job is to provide a service toour clients. Our clients are thelawyers and staff, and it is ourmission to make them feel re-spected, heard and supported.

From the managing partnerdown, the firm’s attitude is keyto employee retention. Unlessfirms are willing to live—andnot just talk—the philosophy oftreating employees well, theywill continue to see their revolv-ing doors spinning around andaround.

Consider the recommenda-tions presented here, and hope-fully the only turnovers you seeare from a bakery. Bon appetit!

� Employee retention: Continued from page 6

JOHN

PRIT

CHET

T©

200

8

THE FIRM




12

BY STEPHANIE CORNELLFASKEN MARTINEAU

The Marketing Sub-Section en-joyed a Fall Blitz as three eventswere scheduled in the final

quarter of 2007.A special cocktail reception took

place on October 18 at the TerminalCity Club. Members were asked toattend with a guest from outside thelegal industry but someone whom allmembers would benefit from meet-ing, such as a graphic designer, apublic relations consultant, a CMO,or an advertising agent—someonewho could offer additional knowl-edge and expertise about our mutualmarketing initiatives but from thecorporate world.

Attending the event was a benefitto the guest since each had the op-portunity to make lucrative businessdevelopment contacts inside the le-gal industry in a comfortable setting.

It was a quaint group, but I’velearned that each attendee went on toschedule meetings with one anoth-er as a result of the introductionsmade that evening. There was a lot of

positive response about the event, in-cluding from those who were unableto attend on that particular date, so itmay be something the sub-sectionlooks at doing again, albeit with alarger group, this spring.

� � �

Carrying on the theme of harvest-ing marketing knowledge from out-side of the legal framework, it was theBCLMA’s distinct pleasure to welcomeFrank Palmer of DDB Canada tospeak with members at the offices ofFasken Martineau in October.

As founding member of what wasonce known as Palmer Jarvis, FrankPalmer is the most “winningest” indi-vidual in Canadian advertising today.

Between clips of ads and commer-cials that some in the room were sur-prised to learn were hatched right herein Vancouver, Palmer quoted Aristotleand discussed various keys to success.� Be Creative Creativity can bring

magic to any marketing or adver-tising initiative; don’t be afraid toembrace it. Be ready to prepareseveral concepts to your decision

committee. While one or two op-tions may be safe routes, one con-cept should be outside the box.Your firm may not be accustomedto it, but you never know whatidea might actually interest a part-ner, and become a winning idea.

� Go For It Don’t sell yourself short.Take chances.

BCLMA Marketing Sub-Section Report

Marketing tips and ideas, from Palmer toAristotle, offered at marketing events

AT THE COCKTAIL RECEPTION:Doug McKegney of GEM CommunicationsInc. with Carol Hastie of McCarthy Tetrault

ALSO AT THE COCKTAIL RECEPTION: Allison Wolf of Shiftworks; Gary Mitchell, GEM Commu-nications Inc; and Dorothy Sitek, Weber Shandwick

ARTISTOTLE“We are what we repeatedly do.

Excellence becomes a habit.”



In so doing, be prepared to be re-jected, but don’t take it personally.It’s all part of the process.

� Cultivate Relationships Not only arewe in the business of mes-sages, “We are in the business ofrelationships, and what we pro-duce is a by-product of trust,”Palmer said. It is through our rela-tionship development with our in-ternal clients—partners, manage-ment committees—that we cometo understand their objectives andgoals. A keen understanding willenable us to develop and delivertheir message.

� � �

In November, Vancouver CanucksCEO Chris Zimmerman addressedBCLMA members at the Pacific Pal-isades Hotel.

Zimmerman has a strong corpo-

rate marketing background. Hewas President and CEO of NikeBauer Hockey, General Managerof Nike Golf as well as US advertisingdirector for the Nike brand. Prior tothat, he was Senior Vice President atSaatchi & Saatchi, the New York-based advertising agency.

Like Palmer, Zimmerman alsotalked about messages, and outlineda three-step process of successfulmessaging.� Focus Once you have determined

your message, simplify it. Packageit in a way that will be easy foryour audience to understand andabsorb.

� Listen We need to listen to our au-dience, our clients and our suppli-ers. Each one has a need that wecan satisfy—if we take the time tolisten and understand.

� Communicate The world of com-munication today is undeniablycluttered: newspaper and maga-zine advertising, billboards, pub-

lic-transportation signage, TVcommercials, Internet, blogs,voice-mails, e-mails, text mes-sages, flyers…. How will yourmessage break through the clut-ter? Think of unique ways to en-gage your audience. Make itcount.Once your message breaks

through, think about the ways inwhich you can then attract your cli-ents to spend more time with youand your brand. Relationship cre-ation and development is integral toany marketing plan.

� � �

Audience members posed a com-mon question of both guest speakers:How do you get buy-in? But what weare all learning as legal marketers isthat there is no golden egg.

There is no secret formula from thecorporate world that we can use toconvince partners or committees ofour vision of how their messageshould be conveyed.

The success of an NHL CEO oraward-winning advertising executivecannot be attributed to an elusivemethod to which we have not beenmade privy. The only common de-nominator is to try, or to quote a fa-mous phrase, “If at first you don’tsucceed, try, try again.”

Not everyone will like every one ofour ideas every day of the week, butthe fact that we are in a position thatallows us to exercise our imaginationand flex our creative muscle is some-


13� Marketing – Continued from page 12

Chris ZimmermanFrank Palmer

MAKING THE MOVES…

Jeff Mousseau is the new Administrator at MandellPinder… and Anita Parke is the new Human Re-

sources Manager at Thorsteinssons.

NEW SUB-SECTION LEADERS

Finance: Gurjinder Sandhu of Alexander HolburnBeaudin Lang; Wendie Berthelott of Whitelaw Twin-

ing; Anita Matkovic of Harris & Company; CorinnePaulin, Oyen Wiggs Green Mutala… Marketing: CarrieInnes and Carrie Yada both of Alexander HolburnBeaudin Lang… Human Resources: Lily Pollard ofWhitelaw Twining; Jennifer Robinson of Lang Michen-

er… Facilities & Services: Rita Koivunen of Stikeman El-liott… Trainers and Knowledge Management: Linda Gobboof Boughton Law Corporation; Trish McCully of Lind-say Kenney.

NEW FIRMS & MEMBERS

We welcome the following Full Members and Mem-ber Firms to the association: Holly Luc of Sangra

Moller LLP… Lisa Dawson of Oyen Wiggs Green Mu-tala… Mr. Laurie Yaworksi of Davis… Jennifer Leong,Office Administrator for Grossman & Stanley…Alli-son Bissicks of Lando & Company… and Susan Spald-ing of Owen Bird.


Like the membership surveys says,the BCLMA likes to party! As usu-al, the annual BCLMA Holiday Par-

ty was an outstanding success. We hadthe highest attendance ever this year,with more than 115 members, sponsorsand guests. Guess we’ll be looking fora bigger venue next year!

Everyone mixed and mingled dur-ing cocktail hour before filling tables

for the pre-set menu. Doug Ausman,BCLMA President welcomed everyone,thanked our sponsors and wished usall a safe and joyful holiday season onbehalf of the association

Co-sponsored by Dye & Durhamand Hub International, the dinner washeld at Bridges at Granville Island.

Many people went home with doorprizes courtesy of our generous spon-sors, as well as additional gifts fromZSA and the BCLMA.


14

MANAGING FOR FUN AT HOLIDAY PARTYBarb Marshall and Knowledge Management Chair Greg Christensen, bothof Fasken Martineau, with Finance Co-Chair Lesley Morgan of Harper Grey

THREE IS NOT A CROWDWayne Scott, Alexander Holburn;

Jay Cathcart, Farris; and Spencer Hartigan, Miller Thomson

HAVING A GREAT TIME WITH FRIENDSWendy Fister, formerly of Lang

Michener, with BCLMA MarketingChair Stephanie Cornell

thing to embrace and appreciate. The fact that we continually dustourselves off and march back in foranother round says somethingabout our tenacity. And when ouridea is bought, produced and cele-brated, there is our prideful mo-ment that reminds us of our pas-sion for marketing.

RECRUITING Please note that we are seeking a

Marketing Sub-Section Leader. Consider making a contribution

to the BCLMA, particularly yourmarketing colleagues.

You will continue to promote agroup of dynamic marketing pro-fessionals as well as develop yourown skills in a leadership role.

You will plan and execute four

to six events throughout the year,each with the purpose of providingmembers with opportunities forlearning and networking.

You will also work closely withthe BCLMA Executive on an annualbusiness plan for the sub-section.

If you have questions or wouldlike to discuss further, please con-tact me. I look forward to hearingfrom you.

� Marketing – Continued from page 13

Holiday Party’s 115attendees made it‘outstanding success’





15

BY PETER MORGANMORGAN:NEWS

If there’s one thing that a law firm’sadministrative managers, legal ad-ministrative assistants and mar-

keting staff have in common with ju-dicial staff, it’s a deep and abidinginterest—maybe even a love/hate re-lationship—with citations.

They even have similar reasonsfor this interest/concern/love/hate:ensuring the citations they imbed inbulletins for lawyers, key articlespublished by the firm for marketingreasons, as well as in court judge-ments, are both correct and handlethe trade-off between brevity andaccuracy.

A citation is like a life-preserverring aboard a ship: you don’t payany attention to any of them untilyou need to use one. And then it’ssink or swim.

Those in the biz know exactly howuseful they are, although they puzzlemost non-legal people, mostly be-cause the people of the legal profes-

sion have a jargonized method ofwriting them that’s much differentfrom most citations in the rest of thecivilized world. Legal citations, forinstance, usually omit the author’sinitial, place of publication and pub-lisher’s name to save space.

Are citations useful? Is it impor-tant to do them right? You bet. Let’ssay you find a 10-year-old briefingmemo that seems similar to the casea lawyer in your firm is working on,and it talks about, say, a specificjudgement that, particularly in litiga-tion situations, can save everybodyon the current case a whole lot ofwork, time and effort—if you canonly find the actual reference.

In fact, the citation even saved theauthors of the memo some work,time and effort, because they needonly detail a particular sentence orclause in the original reference, andnot incorporate the whole back-ground aspects of the document.

The citation, in use or when it’sbeing created, may have its own par-ticular jargon, but its mandate is to

accomplish at least three things:identify the reference document andwhere, in that document, the materi-al being quoted originates; give thereader—and that’s not you—enoughinformation to track down that docu-ment in the sources the reader has—and those are practically guaranteedto differ from the sources you, theauthor, have; and provide enoughinformation to convince the readerthe document is worth finding. Andit may be the reader is separated byconsiderable time and place fromwhere you are.

These are the key principles tokeep in mind as you decide what in-formation to include, and what to ex-clude, when you’re drafting a specif-ic citation.

Tradition, which really tends tohone the way citations have devel-oped over the centuries of use here inCanada, the US and the UK, promptsthe development of a citation to evencommunicate, by what is not in thecitation, by its presence or absence,of how far the reader needs to searchto get to the good bits.

It might list, for instance, a partic-ular judgement on a particular pagein a particular book by listing thebook to make the citation short, butnot include the subsequent updatesto that book (which often change thepage numbering, or even drop thecase altogether). Adding an updatelisting with its different page num-

ber, meanwhile, can meanmore people may be able toquickly find the judgement be-cause they have the update,but not the original.

Accuracy is a key compo-nent, of course. Citing a pagethat’s off by even one numberis as frustrating as being givena phone number that turns outto be wrong by one digit. Areader hoping to save them-selves a lot of effort is left

deeply frustrated because it’s quitelikely they’ll not be able to connectwith the information—at all.

And that means not only accuracyin the original typing of the citation,but ensuring the accuracy remainsthe same through the various itera-tions of the

Who was it that said:

Insight into citations brings harmony

� Continued on page 16

The Internet, as a handy public place,is only about 10 years old, and there

is, as a result, no consensus on how tocite electronic documents, particularlysince many documents are ephemeralon it, almost by definition, or at leasttheir location can be.

But there are now several printedguides and Internet sites that can pro-vide guidance.

One of the best Canadian compila-tion sources of citation guides on the‘Net is at the University of Alberta Li-brary<http://www.library.ualberta.ca/guides/>. There is also The CanadaCanadian Style; A Guide to Writ-ing and Editing, Revised and Ex-panded, from Dundurn Press, whichcontains about a page of common ex-amples of legal citations depending on

the work referenced.The International

Standards Organizationhas published ISO 832(second edition, now), tocover citation abbrevia-tions and a whole lotmore, but you have to payfor it when you order it.One of the best free loca-tions is Cornell Universi-ty’s Basic Legal Cita-tion web portal, which is located at<http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/index.htm>. The work there was firstcomplied in 1993 and has been periodi-cally updated, with the latest to occurearlier this year. There’s also the 18thedition, now, of The Bluebook. Bothare widely used in the US.

INTERNET AND BOOKS AVAILABLE FORCITATION TECHNIQUES AND EXPERTISE


http://www.library.ualberta.ca/guides

http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/index.htm



document as it moves from draft to fi-nal, or is repurposed from paper todatabase, to web use.

Virtually all legal writing dealswith persuading a reader to yourpoint of view so you also have to en-sure the citations don’t get in the wayof that. Not only can the lack of accu-racy bite the reader, it can roll backdown to you, as the citation’s author.

The one thing you do not want toexperience first-hand are the rippleeffects of the comments by a Court ofAppeal Justice who was following thecomplex logic of a lawyer’s brief andturned to a reference citation at a crit-ical part of a case, only to discover thecitation turned out to contain a typothat effectively broke the train ofthought.

Another major component of cita-tions is the shorthand used for stan-dard references.

There are standard abbrevia-tions—SCR is Supreme Court Re-ports, or United States Code is USC,for example—that are designed towork on the trade-off between brevi-

ty, the ideal of a citation, and suffi-cient reader information, which is an-other, conflicting ideal. There are alsotraditions of typography and gram-mar that must be learned, or taught: acomma goes here, a semi-colon there,italicize this, but not that.

The basics each citation authorneeds to quickly master are those fortoday’s national case reporters, thosefor federal and provincial or territori-al laws and regulations, and thosethat report regional cases.

Another is to ensure that if you feelyou’re sufficiently comfortable in ab-breviating references, or the types ofreferences, also ensure you’re consis-tent about it, or you’ll irritate carefulreaders who are trying to decide ifyour version of “Sustainability”,which might be “Sust.” in one cita-tion, and “Susblty” in another, is real-ly the same thing.

Citations are also like extras in amovie. When you’re reading a legalbrief, it’s easy to be focused on thebrief’s discussion points, and not seethe citations at all. But movie produc-ers or directors develop a habit asthey become more experienced, in

seeing what the extras are actuallydoing, even while the main actors aretaking up almost the full screen. Ex-perienced readers of legal informa-tion pause now and then to mentallyfollow a reference through, envision-ing themselves tracking down the ref-erence, for no other reason than itkeeps them sharp.

Fortunately, for some—not so forothers—there are no citation police.There are, of course, some local courtrules about citations and how theyshould be constructed, and not fol-lowing them can produce some quicktrouble.

But, generally, violate a rule of ci-tation tradition and there are no im-mediate repercussions: no jail cellawaits, no fine is imposed, no axe willfall, no blood shed. Readers far awayin time and space can do nothing butsilently—or loudly—curse you andyour mangy descendants.

But do it consistently and nearbyreaders—those who are proofreadingyour work, or those who rely on thecitation, like the lawyer at the AppealCourt, will begin to take note as theirirritation flares.


16� Citations – Continued from page 15

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17

WINTER 2007/2008

Editor: Stephanie CornellManaging Editor, Designer: Peter Morgan

Editorial © 2008 BCLMA, CANADA

Published by: MORGAN:Newsletters Ltd.

BRITISH COLUMBIA LEGAL MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION

President: Doug Ausman

WHO WE ARE:

The BCLMA, founded in 1972, is a non-profit organ-

ization with 95 Full Members and more than 220

Sub- Section Members across B.C. It is the BCLMA ‘s

goal to provide educational opportunities for our

members, to enhance skills as legal administrators

and to provide professional and personal benefits

to the members and their law firms.

MEMBER SERVICES:

� Opportunities for members to network with

other law firm administrators are provided by

events such as our annual Spring and Winter

social, or monthly sub-section meetings. We host

an annual managing partners luncheon.

� Our job bank offers Members information on

potential employment opportunities.

� The discussion section on our website allows

our members to quickly get questions answered

with advice from others who may have faced simi-

lar situations.

The best way to get involved is to become a part

of the BCLMA.

NEWSLETTER SERVICES:

Topics is available to Members and prospective

members. We will be pleased to add you to our

mailing list for this newsletter. Please contact Edi-

tor Stephanie Cornell, or any member of the Edito-

rial Committee, for comments on any of these arti-

cles or suggestions for articles in future issues, or

for adjustments to the circulation list. Comments

are always welcome.

REPRODUCTION RIGHTS:

Topics is copyrighted, however we encourage you

to circulate or copy this material unmodified for

your own internal or private use. You may freely

quote any article or portion of article but it must

be accompanied by attribution. Quoting any arti-

cle or portion of article without attribution is pro-

hibited. The newsletter, its contents or its material

may not be sold, intact or modified, nor included

in any package or product offered for sale.

EXECUTIVE Doug Ausman, PresidentRatcliff & Company500, 221 West Esplenade,North Vancouver, V2M 3J3D: 604.983.7605F: [email protected]

Ernie Gauvreau, Past PresidentGowling Lafleur Henderson LLPSuite 2300, 1055 Dunsmuir StreetVancouver, BC V7X 1J1P: 604.683.6498 F: [email protected]

Stephanie Cornell, President-ElectFasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP2900, 550 Burrard StreetVancouver, Canada V6C 0A3D: 604.631.4767F: [email protected]

Angela Zarowny, TreasurerDirect: [email protected]

Allison Milroy, Director,2008 Conference ChairWatson Goepel Maledy LLPBarristers & SolicitorsSuite 1700, 1075 West Georgia StreetVancouver, BC V6E 3C9 P: 604.688.1301F: 604-688-8193 [email protected]

Gary Carter, DirectorPaine Edmonds LLP1100, 510 Burrard StreetVancouver, BC V6C 3A8P: 604.683.1211F: [email protected]

Jane Kennedy, Administrator andMembership ServicesBCLMA

964 Beaconsfield RoadNorth Vancouver, BC V7R 1T2P: 604.988.1221F: [email protected]

SUB-SECTION LEADERSFacilities & Service ManagementKevin Peers, Co-ChairBull Housser Tupper3000, 1055 West Georgia Street PO Box 11130 Stn Royal Centre Vancouver, BC, V6E 3R3D: 604.687.6575F: [email protected]

Tammy Toeppner, Co-ChairBorden Ladner Gervais LLP1200–200 Burrard StreetVancouver, BC V7X 1T2D: 604.632.3417P: 604.687.5744F: [email protected]

FinanceBonnie Kirk, Co-ChairLawson Lundell LLP1600, 925 West Georgia St.Vancouver, BC V6C 3L2P: 604.685.3456F: [email protected]

Sharon Keller, Co-ChairBoughton Law Corporation1000, 595 Burrard StreetVancouver, BC V7X 1S8D: 604.647.4165F: [email protected]

Human ResourcesTina Giallonardo, ChairMiller Thomson LLP1800, 840 Howe St.Vancouver, BC V6Z 2M1P: 604.687.2242F: [email protected]

Knowledge ManagementGreg Christensen, ChairFasken Martineau Dumoulin LLP2900–550 Burrard StreetVancouver, Canada V6C 0A3D: 604.631.4993F: [email protected]

MarketingRecruiting

Small FirmsColleen Chapman, Co-ChairBrawn Karras & Sanderson301, 15117–101 AvenueSurrey, BC, V3R 8P7 D: 604.587.3600F: 604.588.2331CChapman@BKS Law.com

Jeff Mousseau, Co-ChairMandell Pinder422, 1080 Mainland StreetVancouver, BC V6B 2T4P: 604.681.4146 (ext. 215)F: [email protected]

TrainersEva Handeland, Co-ChairFarris LLP 2500, 700 West Georgia St Vancouver, BC V7Y 1B3 D: 604.661.9398 F: 604-661-9349 [email protected]

Sh’eli Mullin, Co-ChairLang Michener LLP 1500, 1055 West Georgia St Vancouver, V6E 4N7 P: 604.689.9111 F: 604-685-7084 [email protected]

Technology Aaron Fahlman, Co-ChairFasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP2900, 550 Burrard StreetVancouver, Canada V6C 0A3D: 604.631.4960F: [email protected]

Aaron Zuccolin, Co-ChairWatson Goepel Maledy LLP1700 - 1075 West Georgia StreetVancouver, BC, V6E 3C9 D: 604.642.5661F: [email protected]

EDITORIAL COMMITTEEStephanie Cornell, ChairFasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP2900, 550 Burrard StreetVancouver, Canada V6C 0A3D: 604.631.4767F: [email protected]

Tim WurtzBaker Newby LLP9259 Main St.Chilliwack BC, V2P 6K2P: (1) 604.792.1376F: (1) [email protected]

Paula ButlerBarrister & Solicitor200, 100 Park RoyalWest Vancouver BC V7T 1A2P: 604.782.0373F: [email protected]

Mike BowerbankBlake, Cassels & Graydon2600, 595 Burrard Street.Vancouver, BC V7X 1L3P: 604.631.3300F: [email protected]

Agostino doSouto, AdvertisngHarper Grey Easton3100 - 650 West Georgia StreetVancouver BC V6B 4P7D: 604.895.2852F: [email protected]

BCLMA EXECUTIVE & SECTION LEADERS







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