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LAW OFFICE MANAGEMENT However, Jesin has been able to relieve the pressure somewhat and find oppor- tunities to get away, albeit with cellphone in hand, thanks to an association that he has formed with two other sole practi- tioners in the law office of Rotenberg Shidlowski Jesin. "We cover each other's backs when we're away," he says. Wallace's sociological research found that active or social leisure was more effective in enhancing lawyers' mental EARLY BIRD SPECIAL prices as low as $ based on standing order of 100 copies or more 60 With more than 1,400 pages of essential legal references, Ontario Lawyer's Phone Book is your best connection to legal services in Ontario. Subscribers can depend on the credibility, accuracy and currency of this directory year after year. More detail and a wider scope of legal contact information for Ontario than any other source: More than 26,000 lawyers More than 9,000 law firms and corporate offices Fax and telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, office locations and postal codes Lists of: Federal and provincial judges Federal courts, including a section for federal government departments, boards and commissions Ontario courts and services, including a section for provincial government ministries, boards and commissions The Institute of Law Clerks of Ontario Small claims courts Miscellaneous services for lawyers Contact information that is current, up to date and easy to find: Alphabetical tabs on every page for quick reference "Blue pages" to highlight government listings This special offer expires December 1, 2011 EARLY BIRD MULTIPLE COPY DISCOUNTS ....................$68* 6-49 copies .................$64* .............. $62* 100 or more copies ....$60* SPECIAL PRICE $68 Visit canadalawbook.ca or call 1.800.387.5164 for a 30-day no-risk evaluation CANADIAN LAW LIST health than passive leisure activities that would give people more time to worry about work-related problems. Lauren Temple, an associate with Blake Cas- sels & Graydon LLP, can see her point. She favours vacations that really take her out of herself and away from all the cares of her commercial real estate practice. One recent trip involved cyc- ling through Vietnam in monsoon sea- son, and before that she did a volunteer stint with Habitat for Humanity helping to build a house in New Orleans after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. "There's not really an opportunity for you to be thinking about what's going on back at the office, otherwise you might fall off your bike into a ditch or hit your thumb with a hammer and end up in some New Orleans emergency room," she says. Temple says the Habitat for Human- ity experience gave her a renewed appreciation of the value of pro bono work in her law practice and she finds that active vacations in general "are more restful." Eric Boehm, a partner at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, recently found a completely different way to get away from work during his vacation. He attended a weeklong songwriting work- shop, which he says "was a bit like a camp for grown-ups." A musician in his spare time, he says he thrived on the intensity, the feeling of community, and the total immersion in an activity that he loves. And the creative activity helped make him a better lawyer, he maintains. "As lawyers, we work, think, and write within many formal creative restraints. Within those constraints, it's still a creative life but structured. Song- writing and singing and playing music takes the same skills in a totally differ- ent and freeing direction," he says. "I spend my time drafting outsourcing contracts which are really long, detailed technical contracts. It's easy to follow the same routine, but it doesn't always work for each case. Good stuff can come when you allow your creative reflexes to work." Furthermore, Boehm says getting away from work to do something he loves concentrates the mind and helps him focus on things that are important at work, rather than getting distracted by water cooler conversations, unneces- sary e-mails, and office politics. At McCarthy Tétrault, Boniferro says the firm has found a way to give partners an extended period of time off that allows them to disconnect com- pletely from work. This takes the form of a sabbatical program, a concept that he maintains is relatively uncommon 22 OCTO BER 2011 www. CANADIAN Lawyermag.com ntitled-4 1 11-09-01 11:17 AM