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Retirement no longer mandatory in Nova Scotia regional wrap-up ATLANTIC P utting your feet up and hitting the putting green is no longer mandatory for those over 65 in Nova Scotia. The government has amended the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act eliminating the exemp- tion that allowed employers to implement mandatory retirement provisions. The move is a smart one — although it is unlikely to have any significant impact on law firms, says John Young, managing partner with Boyne Clarke in Dartmouth. "Some firms used to have retirement requirements, but in recent years, most law firms have abolished those requirements." Indeed, he notes, "there are law firms in this province that have many lawyers over 70 years of age." Unlike many professions where youth reigns supreme, the practice of law holds experience and knowledge in high esteem. Both usually increase as the years march on. "If you are healthy and still intellectu- ally curious, you are a tremendous asset to a law firm," says Young. Also, he adds, "if you live to be 100, why would you want to spend 35 years doing nothing?" Many older individuals, inside and outside the field of law, are opting to con- tinue in the workforce. Oſten employers are encouraging this. Together they make for compelling reasons to have amended the legislation. "It's absolutely essential," says Young. "We're a province with a rela- tively static population." Recruitment and retention may demand innovative approaches to staffing in the midst of an aging population and a much smaller labour pool to recruit from. Then, of course, there are human rights issues. "Mandatory retirement pol- icies undermined the dignity and sense of self-worth of older workers," says Krista Daley, CEO and director of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission in Halifax. However, she notes, "there will still be situations where, for legitimate reasons, based on job requirements, an employer can require a person to retire, but it can no longer be based on a uniform and arti- ficially constructed age limit." — DONALEE MOULTON donalee@quantumcommunications.ca NEW RULES FOR NON-CANADIAN LAWYERS IN N.L. T he Law Society of Newfoundland and Labrador has spelled out how applicants with non-Canadian common law degrees can practise in Canada's young- est province. The new rules are clearly set out in a one-page policy recently passed by the society's benchers. "This is a very welcome step, and the law society should be commended," says Jim Thistle, a partner with McInnes Cooper in St. John's. "We don't have difficulty in recruit- ment, but . . . every lawyer in Newfoundland and Labrador has gone to an out-of-province law school," he notes. "I'd be hard-pressed to suggest that someone graduating from, for example, one of the major U.S., British, or Aus- tralian schools had somehow received an inferior education." Under the new policy, applicants admitted to practise in a foreign jurisdiction or country simply need to present proof of their law degree, their admission to the bar, and a certificate of quali- fication from the National Committee on Accreditation. For those not admitted to practise, the requirements are lengthier but not overwhelming. First, applicants must have completed an undergraduate degree in an approved course as well as a three- year university-level common law degree. The law school in question has to be accredited, and the applicant cannot have obtained the degree by correspon- dence or distance education. As well, the applicant has to have completed four basic courses at an approved Canadian law school: constitutional law, civil procedure, criminal law, and administrative law. "The requirement for specific extra education in the key areas of civil procedure or constitutional law guarantees that everyone has the core knowledge to practise, and the real- ity is that with any new lawyer gaining expertise requires working in the field," says Thistle. The new rules also speak to potential issues about the quality of the law school education in question. "My personal concern would be candidates showing up from the University of P.O. Box 1816, but that seems to be adequately addressed," says Thistle. "The advantage of the Canadian schools Jim Thistle, a partner with McInnes Cooper in St. John's. is that they are a known quantity, and quality, and you don't need to make any assessment about the sufficiency of edu- cation they provide," he notes. "That said, Harvard Law seems to have done a decent — DM job educating Obama." www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com SEPTEMBER 2009 7