The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50818
Where legal tradition St. John's Newfound wealth from oil and mining has had a noticeable impact on the legal profession. BY DONALEE MOULTON C hange is central to the practice of law, and per- haps nowhere has that change been as dramati- cally felt as in Canada's youngest province. In the last few years, Newfoundland and Labrador has gone from being one of the country's poorest provinces to one of its richest. That dra- matic shift from "have-not" to "have" has had a direct and noticeable impact on lawyers in St. John's, their practices, and the community in which they live. At the same time, being a lawyer in St. John's has remained, comfortably, the same. "The biggest change in the last 30 years is the emergence of the offshore oil industry," says Alexander (Sandy) MacDonald, a partner in the St. John's and changing practices meet office of Cox & Palmer whose practice focuses on offshore natural resourc- es and energy. The numbers attest to just how significant that change is. "Just under 50 per cent of Canada's light crude oil is in Newfoundland, and 35 per cent of Newfoundland's gross domestic product comes from oil," says Jim Thistle, a partner with McInnes Cooper in St. John's who prac- tises primarily in public law litigation and resource development. That impact is being felt with only three fields in production: Hibernia, Terra Nova, and White Rose, which earlier this year pumped out the www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com JULY 2009 41