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REGIONAL WRAP-UP rights and injunctions were ignored, the penalties for con- tempt have been signifi cant. Quebec's Murat Damas who claims to be a lawyer yet has no accreditation in Quebec, and was fi ned $252,000 in late 2007 and faced 42 counts of con- tempt for continuing to advocate legal services in Montreal's Haitian community. In May 2007, the LSBC announced John Ruiz Dempsey, failing to abide by a B.C. Supreme Court order to stop offering legal services, was ordered held in custody for 30 days. Ontario paralegal Maureen Boldt in October 2007 was given four months' house arrest and ordered to pay $35,000 in costs for contravening a stop order. — JEAN SORENSEN jean_sorensen@telus.net Help wanted at Legal Aid Alberta L egal Aid Alberta has joined the rest of this booming province in putting up "help wanted" signs. The number of lawyers taking on legal aid cases has fallen off so badly that Legal Aid Alberta has been forced to launch an aggres- sive campaign to attract more service provid- ers. From 2004 to 2007, the number of lawyers taking on new legal aid cases annually dropped by nearly two-thirds, from 1,198 to 466. At the same time, the num- ber of lawyers who have signed on to the roster to take on legal aid cases has dropped to 689 from 934, according to LAA statistics. "It's disturbing. Whether we can say it's a crisis level — we Legal Aid Alberta CEO Jacquie Schaffter. don't think so," says legal aid CEO Jacquie Schaffter. "We're still able to appoint but we have to work magic in our ap- pointing." Perry Mack, president of the Law Society of Alberta, says it is diffi cult to discern whether this is an anomaly in an economy, where lawyers are very busy, or if it will continue. "If we see that trend persisting, then it is a matter of con- cern," says Mack, a Calgary civil litigator. Legal aid has about 50 staff lawyers, mainly in Edmonton and Calgary, who take on family law cases, youth criminal cases, and provide advice over a phone line, but it is still heavily reliant on law fi rms to provide relatively low-priced help. The going rate for Alberta lawyers is about $250 per hour, while the rate for legal aid work is $84. Schaffter says it hasn't been terribly diffi cult to get help for criminal cases because most criminal lawyers realize it comes with their territory. But civil law, especially family, is a different story, she says. These days, clients needing legal aid in a divorce or custody dispute often have to wait three weeks to get representation, particularly outside Edmonton and Calgary, where lawyers are relatively scarce. Legal Aid Alberta regularly fl ies lawyers to such centres as Fort Mc- 8 JULY 2008 www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com Murray, Grande Prairie, Peace River, and Medicine Hat. While most of the $65-million legal aid budget is from Al- berta Justice, it's not a problem that can be solved by money alone, she says. For instance, raising the hourly rate to $90 would add $3 million to the budget but wouldn't make a huge difference to individual lawyers. LAA has been taking steps to attract more help. Schaffter says it used to be terribly time-consuming just to bill for legal aid work because of bureaucratic hurdles. Much of the red tape has been cut. For instance, lawyers were limited to billing strictly set amounts of time for case preparation, pre- paring letters, and court time. Now there is more recogni- tion that every case is different and there's more fl exibility in how time is apportioned. Lawyers are no longer required to submit receipts for ev- erything, and they can also bill via the internet. "We're different than we used to be," she says. "Many big law fi rms stopped doing business with us because it was more diffi cult." Mack says accepting legal aid cases can also give a young lawyer courtroom experience that otherwise might be a long time coming. While there are no prescriptive rules in the Code of Professional Conduct for Alberta lawyers, it does say: "A lawyer should support and contribute to the profession's efforts to make legal services available to all who require them, regardless of ability to pay." Mack says Alberta lawyers generally rise to the occasion in circumstances like these, when they become more aware of the problem. Schaffter is confi dent that this trend can be stopped. "I believe that lawyers have a strong sense of responsibility that legal aid is necessary to provid- ing access to justice." Law Society of Alberta president Perry Mack. — MIKE SADAVA sadavam@interbaun.com