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Wilson says even if there are downward "blips" in these sectors, they won't impact the province in the same way that the automotive or manufacturing sectors will in provinces such as Ontario. "I think the reality is there has been some impact but relative to other places, it has been rela- tively minor," he says. The local market continues to be "quite good" and all of his firm's 22 lawyers have a steady stream of work, says Chris Donald, one of the managing partners of Robertson Stromberg Pedersen LLP in Saskatoon. He says the firm's corporate commercial lawyers are busier than they were a few years ago, which he considers the bellwether test for how the economy is performing. He says commodities-based lawyers were very busy until sectors such as mining went south last year. To com- pensate, business has picked up on the construction and infrastructure sides. "The work we're doing is of a higher quality than it was a number of years ago. The transactions are more complicated," says Donald, noting one of the firm's lawyers has even carved out a significant niche in the class action field. He stopped just short of saying Saskatchewan's legal sector was invincible. "Maybe the litigators might be able to say [they're recession-proof]. When things get bad, that's when people start suing more. Our insolvency folks will be busy in downturns. Saskatchewan has a stronger economy, there's a whole lot going on. New businesses are coming in, the province is trying to make up the infrastructure deficit, people are moving in, towns need to allow developers to come in and build subdivisions. All of that is working to keep lawyers busy," he says. The Saskatchewan legal community is in a "very comfortable" position, says Keith Boyd, a partner and member of the management committee at Kanuka Thuringer LLP in Regina, because it built its base on local businesses before expanding to national and international clients. He admits there has been a slight drop off for legal services, but that's com- ing off arguably an all-time high. "Our peaks and valleys aren't far apart. During the last 18 months, I don't think I've experienced as strong a demand for our services," he says. As positive as so many of the develop- ments are, it's not all wine and roses, says Gordon Wyant, Saskatoon-based part- ner at McKercher LLP. With population growth — the province recently topped the one-million-person mark — come problems associated with larger cities, such as crime. While that might make for negative headlines, the legal community benefits when the ne'er do wells get busy, he says. "There's a lot of property crime with a booming economy. That attracts a lot of people who want to take advantage of those opportunities. We see growth from a legal perspective in the criminal area because more charges are being laid," he says. "Criminal lawyers tend to be busy as the economy starts to grow and also when the economy is falling." Wyant says despite the fact capital spending has slowed virtually everywhere else, the purse strings are still loose in Saskatchewan. Perhaps the biggest buzz is One of Saskatchewanʼs many great resources. www.thinkRSPlaw.com Barristers & Solicitors 34 M AY 2009 www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com ntitled-7 1 4/6/09 4:35:46 PM cKercher_CL_May_09.indd 1 4/13/09 3:49:08 PM