Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m A p r i l 2 0 1 4 37 adoptions for some of the former Crown wards who had just turned 18. In July 2012, an initial training session on adoption law took place in Toronto with the 35 ACC Ontario members who volunteered. It was led by a lawyer PBLO works with from the Catholic Children's Aid Society. The pro bono program saw in-house counsel help foster fami- lies complete necessary paperwork to finalize the adoptions. The program saved the families money: a typical adoption can cost between $8,000 and $12,000. Phase two of the ACC Ontario's efforts will see them help non-profit organizations with more business law issues such as employment, intellectual property, and commercial contracts. Hurl says there's a misconception of what constitutes pro bono work and there are many opportunities to help where an in-house lawyer wouldn't be required to make substantive decisions in the areas of criminal and family law. That means those who have spent a career doing M&A work shouldn't be discouraged from considering pro bono. "So often, when people think about pro bono they think about homeless advocacy, immigration, landlord-tenant, and family law," says Hurl. "In the work I've done recently for Calgary Legal Guidance I've written policy, contracts, some guidance on board governance and there is a lot of value in that. People forget all these not-for- profits delivering front line services also have legal needs that aren't obvious." Pro Bono Law Ontario has also been working with in-house counsel from RBC for seven years providing a range of services including assistance to unaccompanied minors who arrive in Canada at Pearson airport with no documentation, usually from war-torn countries. The challenge for in-house can be employer approval. While some, like RBC, have active internal pro bono programs others don't always approve, says Hurl. "Sometimes you have to justify it to your employer. Some companies encourage it but unfortunately others have cultures that dictate if you're not working on the company stuff you shouldn't be working on any- thing else," she says. There are also development advantages to doing pro bono. Working in-house, Cutforth says he finds himself becoming more of a generalist but doing the pro bono work allows him to get exposure to the needs of individuals as opposed to groups of people. "I think that's good for your own perspective but can also help sharpen your skills if you're exposed to a different area of law you don't see every day," he says. "I think we owe a duty of service to the community but even in a practical way it helps broaden an in-house counsel's experience." Other concerns have kept public sector lawyers from doing very much volunteer legal work but Crown counsel in three provinces are now able to carry out pro bono work with far less exposure to legal claims and less risk of running into conflicts of interest. Three year-long pilot schemes allowing Department of Justice lawyers to volunteer at legal clinics in British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario received official approval in March. Lisa Blais, president of the Association of Justice Counsel, says her organization "applauds the attempt to increase access to justice" and looks forward to the program being expanded. Crown counsel can only volunteer for departmentally approved activities and have traditionally been restricted in the level of insurance coverage they can obtain for pro bono work. It has also been difficult for government lawyers to rule out potential con- flicts of interests, due to the enormous scope of legal cases involv- ing the federal government. Under the new policy, lawyers will be insured to work (outside of their regular work hours) at the three legal clinics in Vancouver, Edmonton, and Ottawa, on specific areas of law screened by the government to minimize conflicts. iNtelleCtual property employmeNt law Corporate goverNaNCe poliCy work 20 Queen W. 32 nd fl, Toronto | 416.971.7202 | dimock.com Dimock Straon llp experience. results. "We are pleased to add Dale to our team of energetic and experienced intellectual property professionals. Dale's 22 years of ip experience will add further depth to our growing firm." stated Bruce Stra•on, a senior partner at Dimock Stra•on. Dale advises and represents clients from Canada, us and other other jurisdictions in ip litigation, counterfeiting issues and trademark prosecution. He provides clients with ip licenses and licensing advice, including it contracts. Dale is a Certified Specialist in Intellectual Property (Trademark, Patent, Copyright) Law by the Law Society of Upper Canada. Dimock Straon welcomes Dale Schlosser to the firm ntitled-1 1 14-03-18 1:53 PM

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