Canadian Lawyer

public safety officials denied all access to the area. Amid all this, Dearing managed, through a business acquaintance, to find an empty and dry house garage in nearby Okotoks. The garage was re-wired and Dearing had his phone numbers transferred. "We bought chairs, tables to get going again, and dozens and dozens of bankers boxes." Incredibly they were back in business — though not quite as usual — by the Monday following the flood. In spite of the deluge, Dearing says there were still a surprising number of willing buyers and sellers who wanted to do deals. "We could sit and wring our hands, but a lot of clients were depending on us. We all needed to get busy, and we did." John Andresen was in Bolivia on a climbing holiday with fellow members of the Alpine Club of Canada when he learned his law office in High River was flooded and shut down. Andresen says "it was a hard day." He recalls sitting in despair in a restaurant in La Paz as more and more bad news arrived via the Internet. In an effort to raise his spirits, one of the climbers got his guitar and played Stan Rogers' inspirational Mary Ellen Carter, a song on one hand about refloating a sunken ship, but on another a hymn to redemption, renewal, and resilience. It closes with the moving — and for Andresen so appropriate — lines: "No matter what you've lost, be it a home, a love, a friend. Like the Mary Ellen Carter, rise again." That was not the only powerful moment in Andresen's long journey home. One of his heroes is Abraham Lincoln so when he originally booked his trip to Bolivia, he included in the return portion a day in Washington D.C. to visit the Lincoln Memorial. Though he wanted to get home as quickly as possible, he found out there was nothing he could do in High River. With the downtown cordoned off, he could not even get into his office. So, he found himself standing before Lincoln's massive monument, his mind filled with his community's struggle. Then he recalled the words Lincoln spoke to the people of his hometown as he departed for his inauguration as U.S. president in 1861. The words took on a special resonance for Andresen: "To this place," Lincoln told his friends and neighbours, "and the kindness of these people, I owe everything." "It steeled me for what was to come," says Andresen. Arnold & Arnold has been in High River since 1910. David Arnold has been practising for nearly 40 years. His firstfloor, downtown office escaped direct damage but two metres of water poured Continued on page 14 Introducing PCLaw® 13 Case & Matter Management Trust Accounting Calendaring & Contact Management Time & Expense Entry Mobility Order PCLaw today at 15% off!* Be more productive. To order, call 1-800-328-2898 or email pmsales@lexisnexis.ca and reference promo code PC13N15. From billing and accounting to trust and matter management, keep your law firm's finances organized and in control with PCLaw — a comprehensive collection of powerful yet easy-to-use tools in one single source. Learn more at www.pclaw.ca/productive program that has always met the needs of our Partners as our firm has grown. I would highly recommend this program to any firm both small and large." Clayton Straughan, Mackesy Smye LLP *New PCLaw customers only. Valid until September 30, 2013. Promo code PC13N15. Offer does not apply to any existing PCLaw customer who only wishes to purchase an Annual Maintenance Plan (AMP) and/or additional licences. Offer cannot be combined with any other offer or promotion. Other restrictions may apply. LexisNexis and the Knowledge Burst logo are registered trademarks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used under licence. PCLaw is a registered trademark of LexisNexis Practice Management Systems Inc. © 2013 LexisNexis Canada Inc. All rights reserved. www.CANADIAN ntitled-1 1 "PCLaw is a capable and reliable L a w ye r m a g . c o m September 2013 13 13-08-15 11:26 AM

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