Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 8 35 New Brunswick Regional Report T here are 15 counties in New Brunswick that span roughly 73,000 square kilometres and are home to approximately 747,000 people. The dimensions and the demographics, however, belie another numerical reality. At its heart, Canada's eighth smallest and eighth most populous province com- prises four distinct centres. There are the three main cities — Saint John (not St. John's, please), Fredericton and Monc- ton — that jostle for prominence, status and market share. Then there is northern New Brunswick. This is Acadian coun- try, and French-speaking communities predominate, closer in many ways to the Quebec border the region shares than to the rest of New Brunswick. Across the province, towns and villages, as opposed to cities, dominate the landscape. The four distinct areas are also home to four distinct legal communities and four distinct markets, says Marc-Antoine Chiasson, partner with McInnes Cooper in Moncton, New Brunswick's largest and hippest city. "We do have cultural differ- ences between the different markets." Those distinctions, he adds, have less to do with the French/English duality of Canada's only official bilingual province and more to do with actual geography. "Lawyers from the three big centres do service clients outside the cities. We're not tied in to our own geographical area, but the nature of those areas is different — and it can be subtle." Interactions between lawyers shift with the geography as do legal processes and approaches. For example, notes Chias- son, there are differences between clerks' offices. Acknowledging and respecting those subtleties is second nature to lawyers who have been practising in the province for even a short time. That is linked in large part to the smaller size of the prov- ince. "As a result, the bar is more inti- mate," says George Cooper, managing partner with Cox & Palmer in Moncton. That intimacy can make for better lawyering — and it can chafe. Chris Stewart, managing partner with Stewart McKelvey in Moncton, says the legal community is simultaneously a "bit old school" and a "close-knit community." "We're typically traditional Maritimes where a lot of us know a lot of us. I know the names of the kids of lawyers I practise 'against.'" There's an upside to that familiarity, he notes. "When you practise with people you know, you develop a level of respect and community that keeps things rolling smoothly for our clients." Indeed, collegiality defines the bar in New Brunswick perhaps more deeply and broadly than in other jurisdictions. "You always have your battles and your dis- putes, but for the most part, there is a high respect for each other," says Chiasson, whose practice focuses on commercial, construction and insurance litigation. Dawn Wilcox, an associate with McMath Law in Fredericton, believes that respect is both multifaceted and genuine. "The legal community in New Brunswick is made up of professionals that care not only about the justice system but about their clients and their colleagues," she says. "Practitioners here remain committed to the ideals they were taught in law school." Wilcox points to the support estab- lished lawyers readily provide junior col- leagues as an example of that collegiality in practice. "I remember being told dur- ing our bar admission course not to be afraid to ask for help from more senior practitioners, even outside our own firms," she says. Although Wilcox felt this would be an imposition and hesitated to ask for assistance, she quickly discovered the recommendation was on point. "I've never been met with anything but helpful advice, enthusiastic support and direction to 'Reach out any time.'" There are two other significant ele- ments to the practice of law here that fur- ther distinguish the legal community from many others across Canada. As Canada's 1,320 40 $159,462 98 New Brunswick by the numbers* Number of law society members in New Brunswick with active practising status Percentage of lawyers in active practice in New Brunswick who are female Average price of a home in New Brunswick** Percentage of firms in New Brunswick with 10 or fewer lawyers 284 0.7 63 Number of law firms in New Brunswick Percentage of firms with 50 or more lawyers Percentage of all lawyers authorized to practise that are in private practice *All stats but one from the Law Society of NB. **New Brunswick Real Estate Association

• Cover