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opinion EDITOR ' S DESK BY GAIL J. COHEN It's all about money T EXCLUSIVE ONLINE COLUMNS THIS MONTH ON his issue of Canadian Lawyer is all about money. Our cover story, "Good business or cheating the taxman?" takes a look at offshore financial centres, not something that is much talked about within the Canadian legal scene but which has become more and more part of the practice of business and corporate- commercial law internationally. Offshore financial centres, or offshore tax havens as they are more commonly referred to, have been the subject of heightened inter- national scrutiny and pressure in recent years from governments in the developed world. We take a look at how Canada and Canadian companies and law firms are using the system. Also in this issue is "The going rate," our annual and most-requested survey of the year. We may not have an AmLaw 100 giving the profits-per-partner sta- tistics for all of the big firms, but our annual legal fees survey provides a handy benchmark for lawyers in various practice as to what their colleagues across the country and at different-sized firms are charging for some of the most common legal services they provide. We had an unprecedented number of respondents to this year's survey with more than 600 lawyers taking the time to comment and fill out the questionnaire, therefore giving the most comprehensive set of numbers we've had in many years. While many lawyers commented that they had raised their fees over the last year, the fee chart numbers, averaged responses in 16 of the 26 categories, showed a decline in the rates reported in our 2009 survey. Surely the recent economic slowdown had a dramatic effect on what lawyers are charging for their services, so it will be interesting to compare next year's numbers to see the effect of more stable times. Stay tuned, as always, I appreciate feedback from readers in terms of adding new categories or sections to the survey. From our story on the coming HST and the consequences of not being pre- pared for it, and our cross-examined profile of dealmaker and philanthropist Stephen Halperin to our legal reports on insolvency and business and corporate law, the money theme weaves its way throughout this issue. There's something for everyone. — gcohen@clbmedia.ca Trials & Tribulations Antonin I. Pribetic opines on issues in the world of litigation. June 14 Human Rights . . . Here & There University of Ottawa law professor Lucie Lamarche's column on human rights and international affairs. June 14 ver The IT Girl Sarah Dale-Harris takes a wry look at technology and the law. June 21 C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com Defi nitely Mabey Stephen Mabey looks at the thorny issues facing law firm management. June 21 Letter from Law Law Land Wit and wisdom from Vancouver's Tony Wilson. June 28 WEB VIDEO Group Publisher: Karen Lorimer Editorial Director: Gail J. Cohen Staff writer: Robert Todd Copy Editor: Heather Gardiner Creative Director: Einar Rice Art Director: Bill Hunter Account Co-ordinator: Catherine Giles Contributors: Jean Sorensen, donalee Moulton, Diane Cook, Glenn Kauth, Michael McKiernan Canadian Lawyer is published 11 times a year by Canadian Lawyer Magazine Inc., 240 Edward St., Aurora, Ont. L4G 3S9 (905) 841- 6480 Fax: (905) 727-0017. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reprinted without written permission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information pre- sented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. 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June 28 WEEKLY NEWS AND NEWS UPDATES www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com JUNE 2010 3