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REGIONAL WRAP-UP Filling the void he University of Manitoba's law school and the provincial law society are optimistic a new joint venture will help fi ll the void of lawyers in rural and northern communities. The plan, which could be unveiled as early as this fall but will more likely be launched a year from now, calls for four spots to be held at the law school specifi cally for students in underserviced areas. They will be provided with "plenty of assis- tance" on tuition, $25,000 per year for living expenses, and guaranteed legal jobs back in their home communi- ties in the summers. T The living expenses money will be advanced as a forgivable loan, according to Allan Fineblit, president and CEO of the Law Society of Manitoba. For ev- ery year the students work in their home communities, 20 per cent of the loan will be eliminated. "If they practise for fi ve years, they'll get the money without having to pay it back. In the long term, I think this is a really interesting op- portunity to build back the legal profession in some of those com- munities," he says. Fineblit says this type of policy Allan Fineblit has proven successful in other sec- tors, including the medical profes- sion. The plan has been approved by the law faculty council and the law society, and all that's left to fi nalize is the funding from the Manitoba Law Foundation, says Fineblit. Harvey Secter, dean of the University of Manitoba's law school, says the program won't be the silver bullet to cure all that ails legal service in the north but it's a step in the right direction. "The law society has done some studies that seem to show there is a severe problem in rural communities. One of the keys will be fi nding ways to support people from those commu- nities who want to come [to Win- nipeg] to study law but also set in- ducements for them to go back [to their communities]," he says. Attorney General Dave Chomiak says the Gary Doer government is looking at packages to deal with the shortage of lawyers, particu- larly Crown attorneys, outside of Winnipeg. "It's a very good time to be a lawyer in the West today. The economy is booming," he says. He notes reciprocal licensing agreements with other prov- inces have caused a signifi cant drain on lawyers in rural com- munities, not just in Manitoba but across the country. "It's a Canada-wide problem. The Northwest Territories is a disaster. People can practise and make money in every major centre in the West," he says. "The solution is getting more people from rural and northern Manitoba interested in law and going back to their communities to practise." In the past few months, both Legal Aid Manitoba and the Manitoba As- sociation of Crown Attorneys have openly discussed their diffi culties in attracting and retaining lawyers in rural areas. Fineblit says rural fi rms are having diffi culty fi nding criminal lawyers, too. — GEOFF KIRBYSON gmkirbyson@shaw.ca Harvey Secter www. Law ye rmag.com A UGUST 2008 9