Canadian Lawyer

REGIONAL WRAP-UP ATLANTIC Big news: small claims coUrt is Back in n.B. reinstated. As promised in the last elec- tion, the new Progressive Conservative government has introduced a bill that will once again see small claims court up and running in the province. "It's a good idea," says René Basque, T here is big news in New Brunswick's legal community: small claims court is about to be a partner with Actus Law in Moncton and past president of the Canadian Bar Association-New Brunswick. "It's better for lawyers and their clients." According to Justice Minister Marie- Claude Blais, small claims court will replace a "flawed system that was inef- ficient and ineffective. " In 2010, in a letters to the editor hotly debated and controversial move, the Liberal government of the day trans- ferred responsibility for issues gener- ally handled by small claims court to the Court of Queen's Bench. Before long, there was a significant backlog. Basque, for example, filed a claim on behalf of a client in October 2011. The hearing date was set for a year later. Under the new bill, introduced after the current government had originally planned on prior to the consultations. Basque's firm believes the limit extensive consultation with the Law Society of New Brunswick and the local branch of the CBA, the maximum allow- able claim will be $12,500, up from the $6,000 limit in place when the prov- ince axed its small claims court and even more than the $10,000 maximum should be even higher and wrote a letter to the government recommending it be set at $30,000, which was the maximum allowable when small claims moved to the Queen's Bench. This higher figure reflects the often complex nature of small claims cases. The Justice minister says the new small claims court system, estimated to cost $270,000 to launch in addition to operating costs, will be up and running by the fall. donalee@quantumcommunications.ca — DONALEE MOULTON Comments from canadianlawyermag.com public. You might want to require a prior degree or the equivalent. Let private sector schools and the public post-secondary system do the teaching. Let enrolment be wide open. The legal profession will still have all the big Re: Paying it forward June 2012 Had a tear in my eye well done well said. — online comment from Re: Hot, hot, hot June 2012 money work and the people who can't afford a lawyer will have the ability to consult a properly trained and highly specialized paralegal. If anyone has a better idea, spell it out. — online comment from BARRISTER & SOLICITOR ANDERS BRUUN These high hourly rates are terrific for lawyers. The clients who are paying them do not typically do so with their own money. The profession is however making legal advice inaccessible to the large group not eligible for legal aid and not able to pay these huge fees. My solution; as the profession is becoming specialized anyway, is that we ought to formalize it. Let people study real estate law, or wills and estates, or corporate law or any of dozens of niche areas for one year and get a certificate in that sub- ject that allows them to offer their services to the I think a notably big area left off this list is personal injury law. Maybe because it's not as "glamorous" as M&A and tax? But I would think that the top PI lawyers would easily make much more than the top Tax and M&A lawyers. I mean seriously . . . . $1,000/ hr x 2000 hours = $2 million in billings versus a PI lawyer who makes 30 per cent on $20 million (probably more) worth of settlements/year . . . seems pretty clear to me who the winner is. People like Roger Oatley and others in his class probably put hourly billing lawyers to shame. — online comment from JOE BIG CHEESE PETER HAACKE Great article! It brings me hope in these dark times. We are all capable of kindness. At the end of the day we sometimes have to think outside of our own agendas and goals and help our fellow human beings. Thank you J. S. Vijaya for reminding me about what is possible. — online comment from ANTHONY CANALI Re: The going rate June 2012 As a small practice lawyer in rural, small town Ontario, I was quite surprised by the Ontario fee ranges as well as by the average hourly rates, which seemed quite high. In next year's survey, it would be interesting to compare the average fees and hourly rates for met- ropolitan areas, large cities, mid-sized cities, and small towns (as defined by Canadian Lawyer mag). — online comment from A. TINNEY-FISCHER Canadian Lawyer welcomes letters to the editor but reserves the right to edit for space, taste, and libel considerations. Please include your full contact information in all correspondence. Send your letters to: gail.cohen@thomsonreuters.com 6 JULY 2012 www. CANADIAN Lawyermag.com

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