Canadian Lawyer

REGIONAL WRAP-UP And Edmonton's legal community likes it that way E arly next month, some of Edmonton's finest legal minds will do their best to raise a few laughs as well as a few dollars for a good cause. The Players De Novo, an all-legal theatrical ensemble, will take to the stage in what has been described by sympathetic critics as "a comic romp." It is a Broadway chestnut from the 1980s, The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940. "It's farce meets murder," according to Anne Ferguson Switzer, one of the moving forces behind Players De Novo. "It involves lots of spinning bookcases, slamming doors, dead bodies, and secret passages, and in this case, lots of lawyers moonlighting as actors." This will be the seventh annual production of what is known as The Legal Community Play. It is designed to benefit theatre and theatre educa- tion in Edmonton and of course to give lawyers a chance to show off their inner ham. Since its inception, The Legal Community Play has raised more than $408,000 for the city's theatrical community. Switzer is proud of one exceptional aspect of the project — that "the only amateurs involved are the lawyers." The Players De Novo theatre company teams up with professionals from the full-time theatre HEALTH IS HAPPINESS AT STEVENS VIRGIN implementing a series of new health and wellness strategies that go beyond the normal lunch-and-learn or fitness chal- lenges. The news is good. The initia- tive, which is a compilation of different programs, has earned the legal firm the 2011 Canadian Bar Association of B.C. Work Life Balance Award and has also shown that healthy employees are hap- pier employees. "Productivity has increased," says S Megan Hamilton, operations director for the firm that first started imple- menting a healthy lifestyle program four years ago. "When people are happy, they are getting more work done." It began as company principal Mark Virgin became more health conscious. "He started working out and feeling tevens Virgin law firm in Van- couver is currently going through a one-year review after good," says Hamilton, as that attitude started to "trickle down" from the prin- cipals to the staff and was key to the program's success. An attitude of fitness emerged, progressed, and the firm hired a personal trainer, paying for lunchtime "boot camp" sessions at a nearby gym that staff could attend for free. If the individual missed the session for a non- work-related reason, then the firm was reimbursed a $20 fee. The workouts, held two or three times a week, served another purpose. "We were going through a growth spurt," she says, "And it became a great way to get to know the new people." Virgin and Hamilton made it a point of attending as many sessions as possible to encourage the staff of 30 to follow. company, which it is supporting in any given year. As a consequence, "the director is professional, we've got professional lighting, professional costumes. Everything is professional behind the actors." For Switzer, "it's amazing how being surrounded by professionals makes everybody better." This year's production includes three sitting judges, justices Terry Clackson and Myrna Bielby and Judge Steven Andrew. Switzer says for the judges, who are normally reticent about venturing into the public arena, it is a chance to work with practitioners outside the law and get involved in a good cause. The production is held in the 700-seat theatre at Victoria School in downtown Edmonton. Half the proceeds go to the school's special theatre program and half to the theatre company adopted by the Players De Novo. The curtain goes up May 4, tickets are $100 each, and a $75 tax receipt will be issued. The performance is followed by what Switzer modestly describes as "the city's most fabulous party." — GE News Feed BUSINESS LAW David Street will address the basics of "Closing the Trans- action" at the LSUC Business Law Practice Essentials 2012 on April 17. www.lerners.ca/news:126 EFFECTIVE EXPERT WITNESSES – PROPERTY VALUATORS Michael Kortes will be coaching property valuation profession- als through the complexities associated with being an effective expert witness at the Osgoode-IPTI Certi cate in Expert Evidence in Property Valuation Disputes program on May 17 and 18. May 17 and18 www.lerners.ca/news:142 CIVIL LITIGATION SUMMIT 2012 Cynthia Kuehl will be chairing the LSUC Civil Litigation Summit 2012 on May 22. www.lerners.ca/news:143 www.lerners.ca www.CANADIAN Lawyermag.com A PRIL 2012 11 erners_Newsfeed_CL_Apr_12.indd 1 12-03-14 2:34 PM IT'S A F ARCE! C ontinued on pa g e 13

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