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regional wrap-up One-stop swapping S wapping information on real estate and mortgage trans- actions between banks and law firms just became easier in B.C. with the introduction of Emergis' Assyst Real Estate mortgage processing solution on OnLine, the govern- ment's internet e-service system. Dave Arnatt, in product development for OnLine, says tra- ditionally the province's e-service system was used by notaries and legal firms to search titles, obtain title certificates, or ex- amine B.C. Assessment Authority records and related data kept by government agencies. Firms registered free to join OnLine but are charged fees according to services utilized. Arnatt says OnLine, though, has now seen the potential of adding other services onto the delivery system. The latest is Assyst. "It is an online way of linking the bank with the notary or lawyer," says Arnatt. It works like this: a client, purchasing a home, arranges financing through a bank, which posts the client's file on OnLine's system. The client's lawyer, having re- ceived contact information from the bank, goes to the Assyst section on OnLine. A quick click to enter and the lawyer then sees a roster of banks listed, locates the client's bank and its file created in the client's name. Once the file is opened, inside are all the bank's instructions, information, and documents the bank requires to complete the mortgage transaction. Both the bank and lawyer can access the file. "It saves faxing documents and instructions back and forth," says Arnatt, adding that lost documents are minimized and the process of transferring funds into the lawyer's trust account is expedited. "It is also more secure and it becomes easier to track [documents]," he says. One of the features, though, that is finding a warm reception in the marketplace is the bank's willingness to freeze the transaction two days before closing, which prevents any last-minute readjustments, Arnatt says. At press time in November, RBC was the only bank entered THE WEST into the system. However, the service provider is working with other banks in order to have representation from all major Ca- nadian financial institutions onto the system. Assyst follows econveyance (a trademark for OneMove On- line Systems Inc.'s software technology), which is designed for the electronic production and delivery of real estate contract and conveyance documents between lawyers, notaries, real es- tate agents, lenders, and related participants, all in a secure and seamless system. Emergis Inc. announced it has a two-year, renewable deal with the B.C. provincial government and MacDonald Dettwil- er and Associates Ltd., which operates OnLine. The system was recently rolled out in Ontario. — JEAN SORENSEN jean_sorensen@telus.net Changing the face of the legal community from diverse backgrounds don't consider law as an option or see the cost of education beyond their means. "Our clients and our suppliers are asking us about our diversity policies," says Kara Sutherland, director of professional resources for Fraser Milner Casgrain LLP, a firm that has established a diversity committee to address internal and community concerns regarding di- versity. But achieving diversity within a firm has its challenges, because as Sutherland says: "Our law schools do not reflect the community." Several initiatives have been launched to help D iversity is a good business strategy for law firms today, but it's a formula that's not always working, as law students students from diverse backgrounds get through law school. Sutherland says the firm recently established the Harry Jerome Scholarship (hon- oring the black B.C. Olympian sprinter) to be given to a black law student. This year's recipient of the $5,000 award was Denise Williams, 24, a second-year York University Osgoode Hall law student. "There definitely is a business model for diver- sity," agrees Vancouver's Arlene Henry, as commu- nities want to see their concerns reflected in the businesses around them. Henry, executive liaison to the Canadian Bar Association B.C. branch's steering committee in charge of raising $500,000 to fund the new Aboriginal Law Student Scholar- ship Trust, believes funding can ease the burden. The trust's origin flows from a Law Society of B.C. report compiled in 2000, which looked at why aboriginal students were underrepresented today in law school. The report, which surveyed aboriginal law students, found they suffered racial slurs, discrimination, isolation, culture shock, and found little content in law schools that related to their culture. While the report led to change, it also under- scored the need for financial support, leading to the CBA's equality committee, in conjunc- tion with the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, to announce in October that it would establish a trust fund. The trust fund will www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com JANU AR Y 2008 7