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regional wrap-up ew women lawyers joining the profession continued to outpace their male counterparts in 2007, according to the Law Society of British Columbia's annual report. In 2007, 240 new female lawyers joined the bar compared to 211 men. Last year's figures marked the fourth consecutive year of more women than men entering the profession. Figures for 2004 showed 181 women compared to 170 men; 2005 had 242 women compared to 207 men; and 2006 with 239 women com- pared to 230 men. However, of the total tally of B.C. lawyers, which stands at 11,450, women account for 35 per cent of the profession while men make up 65 per cent. Of the 3,205 law firms in B.C., LSBC statistics for 2007 indicate that by far the largest sector is sole practitioners whose law firms number 2,386. There are 628 firms with two WCI design recommendations capture corporate interests and-trade system, is capturing greater corporate client at- tention, says Davis LLP's Daniel R. Jarvis. The design recommendations provide insight into how T the WCI will function and how the member partners can proceed with the program which aims at reducing GHGs by industry and corporations. "It has become more clear whom it will apply to and what kinds of offsets will be al- lowed," says Jarvis. He says his firm has a two-pronged approach: helping clients interested in renewable energy projects, wood pel- let manufacturing, and alternate energy projects, which dovetails with B.C. Hydro's biomass and clean energy pro- grams. The second is meeting the impact of the WCI rec- ommendations and provincial guidelines. The WCI is a partnership of U.S. states and Canadi- an provinces, which have a common goal of achieving a 15-per-cent reduction of the 2005 levels of six main greenhouse gases by 2020 and begins in 2012. The WCI design recommendations have spurred for- ward-thinking companies looking at business opportunities such as joint ventures to achieve carbon credits. Under the recommendations, some businesses may qualify for early- action credits taken for reducing emissions before January 2012. "There is opportunity now and more opportunity is coming in the form of corporate work," Jarvis notes. — JS www. mag.com NO VEMBER / DECEMBER 2008 7 he release on Sept. 23 of the Western Climate Ini- tiative's (WCI) design recommendations, which promote a regional greenhouse gas (GHG) cap- to five lawyers; firms with six to 15 lawyers stand at 143, while there are 34 firms with 16 to 50 lawyers, and 14 firms with more than 51 lawyers. Civil litigation (27 per cent) and corporate law (24 per cent) make up the lion's share of the practice areas, with real estate at 11 per cent, family law at 10 per cent, admin- istrative 10 per cent, criminal nine per cent, wills and estates at five per cent, and other (mediation, arbitration, and intellectual property) at four per cent. — JEAN SORENSEN jean_sorensen@telus.net letters to the editor I have never written a letter to the editor of a magazine before, but I was so shocked by the Legal Ethics article ("The professional death penalty," Canadian Lawyer, Sep- tember 2008) penned by Philip Slayton that I had to voice my concern. I don't think it would be unfair to describe the gist of Mr. Slayton's article about Justice Ted Matlow as follows: "Ah, come on . . . what he did wasn't that bad, and besides the guy is going to retire soon." Apparently, in his opinion, what Justice Matlow did wasn't that bad. With all due respect to Mr. Slayton, his opinion doesn't count. Judges assess the conduct of judges. They are the ones that know when conduct has dropped to such a level that it should be condemned, and how harsh the con- demnation should be. I cannot decide whether I am most offended by Mr. Slayton thinking it is otherwise, or by the incredible disrespect his article shows for the 21 members of the Canadian Judicial Council — as he noted all chief justices or associate chiefs from across this country. It matters not whether I agree or disagree with Mr. Slayton, but perhaps the fact that Justice Matlow simply "believed . . . he was only exercising the normal rights of citizenship" when he adjudicated on a case involving the proponent of a project he was actively opposing, is exactly what concerned the CJC. How can one be satisfied that a person will act differently in the future, if they don't be- lieve they did anything wrong in the past? VERONICA L. JACKSON Barrister and solicitor, Victoria, B.C.