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regional wrap-up B.C. legal services gearing up for tough year T he blowback from the credit crunch has caused several B.C. legal servic- es to restructure to meet increas- ing demands. Jamie Maclaren, executive director of Pro Bono Law of B.C., says he expects to see more foreclosures and bankruptcies in 2009 and is looking to put together a program with 50 lawyers that will assist individuals. Since larger legal firms are conflicted out as they of- ten represent financial institutions, these pro bono lawyers are expected to come from smaller firms or sole practitioners. The demand for pro bono services "is expected to curve up at a greater rate in the next little while. There is a lag before the effect of the recession hits low-income people," he says. All areas of pro bono work will see increased needs compounded by "the cut in legal aid" and cases "falling through the cracks" of the judicial system. Maclaren is looking for more lawyers willing to handle family-related issues throughout the province and lawyers in northern B.C. to handle all types of cases. Many funding agencies are seeing reduced revenues, which is causing legal service groups to look at mergers. Maclaren says his organization is in "very serious talks" with the Western Canada Society to Access Justice, which operates legal clinics. "We are in the initial phase of merger talks and moving forward." The merger, if successful, could happen in a year or two and reduce administration costs, streamline referrals, and reduce competition for support funding. The Legal Services Society (LSS) in B.C. has also announced that it will be making changes to staffing and services. A statement at the end of November 2008 from LSS's executive director Mark Benton said referrals for emergency family services were up 21 per cent over budget, criminal referrals five per cent, and immigration referrals up 76 per cent over the previous year. LSS is adjusting its budget by $12.7 million with tariff, staff, and service cuts. LSS refused comment on the cuts, but its statement said 38 Lower Mainland employees will be out of work by April. This included elimina- tion of the staff lawyer service delivery model in Vancouver and Surrey and a reduction in LawLINE, a telephone information service. THE WEST — JEAN SORENSEN jean_sorensen@telus.net I LAWYER STILL FIGHTING FOR HER SEAT ndividuals with handicaps are used to dealing with obstacles, but after 11 years of battling the airlines over a "one-seat, one-fare" concept, Alberta civil rights lawyer Linda McKay-Panos says she wishes she could literally fl y into the sunset. But now the latest salvo has been fi red by the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), which has indi- cated it doesn't want to write letters for obese patients like McKay-Panos. McKay-Panos, executive director of the Alberta Civil Liberties Research Centre, is one of six to 10 per cent of women who suffer from Stein- Leventhal syndrome, a hormone disor- der that manifests symptoms including weight gain that can lead to obesity. McKay-Panos says she does not understand the CMA's objection to writing a letter on behalf of an obese patient travelling on an airline who cannot fit into one seat. Her battle began in 1997 when she felt discriminated against on Air Canada when charged for one-and-a-half seats. She complained about the process and friends told her as a lawyer to do some- thing about it. "It was a combination of the treatment that I received which was very disrespectful and painful and the policies implemented by the airlines." The battle ended in 2008 when the Supreme Court of Canada upheld a Canadian Transport Agency ruling — the "one-person, one-fare" policy for a disabled person with attendant or for obese person — Air Canada and WestJet Continued on page 8 McKellar. The first choice for structured settlements. No controversy. The McKellar Structured Settlement™ VANCOUVER 1-800-465-7878 Untitled-6 1 EDMONTON 780-420-0897 GUELPH 1-800-265-8381 HALIFAX 1-800-565-0695 USA 1-800-265-2789 www.mckellar.com www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com M ARCH 2009 7 9/9/08 9:27:12 AM