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regional wrap-up THE PRAIRIES Roger Bannister became the first human to run a sub-four- minute mile, and Rosa Parks had just been arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. Donald Brock, Sydney Cohan, Martin Corne, Robert Goodwin, Neil MacKay, Michael Mercury, Edward Miedzy Brocki, Harvey Pollock, Lorne Sharfe, and Michael Skwark were feted at the Fort Garry Hotel for hitting the half-century mark as lawyers. Considering the five-year articling requirement of the era, the 10 honourees have actually been handling cases for 55 years — or 552 years collectively. Pollock says he has fond memories of the days before electronic typewriters and casual Fridays. "You dared not go into the judge's chamber of Chief Justice E.K. Williams unless your shoes were shined and you were wearing a jacket and a tie. He was a stiff judge but he was always kind to students and first-year lawyers," he says. Corne is noncommittal about whether the law was better Advising Registered Charities? We can help! Visit our website today. www.charitycentral.ca Charity Central helps guide Canada's Registered Charities through the ins and outs of issuing ofcial donation receipts; • • • maintaining proper books and records; understanding fundraising activity guidelines. Production of this ad has been made possible by a nancial contribution from the Canada Revenue Agency. 10 JUNE 2009 www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com ntitled-2 1 5/12/09 9:53:29 AM Gold watches all around W hen the 10 guests of honour at last month's Law Society of Manitoba luncheon began their articling careers, Elvis Presley had just cut his first record, today or in the late '50s. "When I win a case, it's probably better today. When I lose a case, it was better then," he says with a laugh. Corne says some of his fondest memories as a lawyer involve his participation in the annual musicals put on by the province's legal community at the Manitoba Theatre Centre. "I was the lead in 12 Angry Men. I played the Henry Fonda part," he says. Mercury agrees that numerous parts of the business of law would be unrecognizable to many lawyers today. Some of the fastest-growing specialties of the 21st century weren't even in the lexicon when he started out. "Environmental law and privacy law didn't exist in the old days," he says. Mercury says he and his fellow 50-year lawyers — all of whom received a gold watch — owe the high quality of Manitoba's legal profession to the likes of Sir James Aikins, Isaac Pitblado, and A.J. Andrews. "They were giants in the field," he says. — GEOFF KIRBYSON gmkirbyson@shaw.ca where their mouths are Putting their money vowed to back it up by allowing its associates to count 50 hours of their pro bono work towards their billable hours targets. "McKercher's lawyers have been doing pro bono work S since the firm's inception [in 1926]. What's different now is McKercher has taken a co-ordinated effort to it," says David Stack, one of the firm's partners. The move comes shortly after McKercher and a number of other large Saskatchewan firms, including MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman LLP and McDougall Gauley LLP, signed a pledge to support pro bono. "An accessible legal profession is an essential element for the rule of law. There is a significant segment of the population that can't afford legal services but can't qualify for legal aid, either. The rule of law does not then fully extend to them. We're not comfortable with this and we're going to do our part to alleviate it," says Stack. He says McKercher has not tracked its lawyers' pro bono work before. Partners, will not receive credit for pro bono work, but are still encouraged to volunteer their expertise. "Partners are a different beast. The associates have targets to meet and we don't want them to be punished because some of their hours are spent on important pro bono work," he says. — GK askatoon-based McKercher LLP has approved a policy to "encourage and support" the participation by its associates in pro bono activities. Perhaps more importantly, it has