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REGIONAL WRAP-UP says Warsaba, a graduate of the University of Manitoba's law school. "We're seeing more economic interest in Saskatch- ewan. We're seeing investors from the U.S. buying manufac- turing plants, for example. We want to have a team ready to meet the current needs but also to meet the needs of what we see happening in the future." Allan Fineblit, CEO of the Law Society of Manitoba, says he's not surprised to see law firms recruiting out of their jurisdictions. "We have a very vibrant economy and that translates into a lot of opportunities. [Out of province re- cruiting] may be more significant now because there is so much work for lawyers, so firms are looking further afield than they might have traditionally," he says. — GK Nunavut law society faces first test of good character W hen is a lawyer of bad char- acter? And how long does it last? A judge in Iqaluit has ruled that the Law Society of Nunavut relied too much on negative allegations made by a former colleague 12 years ago, and not enough on current, positive character references, when refusing to admit a new member. "Character is not stagnant and un- changing but rather evolves over time," wrote Justice Earl Johnson of the Nu- navut Court of Justice in MacAdam v. Law Society of Nunavut. On Dec. 12, 2007, Johnson ordered the Law Society of Nunavut to admit Robert MacAdam as a full-fledged member, af- ter MacAdam waited for two years and was forced to turn down a government job offer. MacAdam's application to the law so- ciety arrived with two discipline hearing reports from 1997 and 1999, two current character references, and the report from the latest hearing, which resulted in his being issued a certificate of good stand- ing, with some conditions, from the Law Society of British Columbia. Instead of accepting MacAdam's current good standing, the former executive director of the Law Society of Nunavut investigated the cause of the old discipline hearing, relying on alle- gations made by a former colleague 12 years ago. He sought further character references and used the resulting infor- mation as the basis of a refusal, without giving MacAdam a chance to respond. "Because character evolves, [Mac- Adam's] character should have been assessed at the time the application was reviewed. At that time, there were no outstanding complaints in British Co- lumbia, and the two alleged incidents in Nunavut, relied upon by the [law so- ciety], were without merit. As a result, the [law society] should have admitted him as a full member of the . . . society," ruled Johnson. Johnson relied on the 2000 Law Soci- ety of Upper Canada hearing panel's de- cision in Alan Cecil Preyra's good char- Aboriginal, environment boutique growing A trio of Montreal lawyers, who last summer formed the new boutique firm Dionne Gertler Schulze, has already begun to expand. The firm has a dual specialty in ab- original law, in which the three part- ners have nearly 60 years combined experience, and environmental law. David Schulze says he and his partners CENTRAL CANADA ThE NoRTh acter hearing. In that case, the benchers determined the question was whether Preyra had rehabilitated his character since he was caught falsifying academic records and lying to a prospective em- ployer in 1994. They determined be- cause he had continued to misrepresent his actions, he had not. Johnson also pointed to several cases in Ontario over the last six years in which lawyers had been readmitted to the bar despite a history of substance abuse or even criminal convictions. The Legal Profession Act of Nunavut states the law society "is not bound by letters of character provided by the ap- plicant but may make such inquiries and hold such hearings as it deems necessary or desirable under the circumstances." The act also states that the society must give the applicant a "reasonable oppor- tunity to respond." The current CEO of the Nunavut law society, Craig Goebel, says his organiza- tion considers this ruling instructive. He plans to develop rules and proce- dures that will clarify what to do in the future. — SARA MINOGUE saraminogue@gmail.com www. C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com FEBRU AR Y 2008 11