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 A P R I L 2 0 1 8 39 B .C. lawyers are looking for more than a paycheque and there's a growing trend to look outside Vancouver for that work-life balance in places where a home mortgage doesn't look like funding for a federal program. "We have an overabundance of appli- cations," says Darren Lindsay, managing partner for Heather Sadler Jenkins LLP in Prince George, the city's largest law firm with 18 lawyers (with three articling students hired in the last two years). "It is amazing the quality and quantity of the applicants." With a good house bought for $300,000, four different nearby ski and snowboard hills, airport, live theatre and the University of Northern B.C., the north- ern point is an attractive buy-in. Retiring Prince George lawyers are also creating opportunities. The city once had 100 lawyers — including Crown counsel — but that's down to 70 to 80 with retire- ments, says Lindsay, meaning there's room to absorb that business in the city of 74,000. "I don't think we will grow too much larger — maybe 25," he says, with corpo- rate law one growth area in the northern forestry hub. First Nations work is anoth- er. HSJ handled Indian residential school settlement work and, while much of First Nations work goes through Vancouver law firms, he sees the potential for HSJ to build expertise and provide First Nations sup- port closer to home. In nearby Smithers, Coady MacEach- ern, partner in Giddings MacEachern, calls the town a "gem." He passed through on a road trip years ago, was smitten and returned with partners to set up shop in the town where the average resident age is 39. Today, the firm has six lawyers in a staff of 15, and he's not sure how much more he wants to grow the busy solicitor and bar- rister firm. Smithers offers a ski hill, regional air- port, picturesque downtown, outdoor life- style and good housing priced at $200,000 and diverse industry of forestry, mining and tourism. There's strong collegiality between law firms and lawyers, says MacEachern. With the lack of any rush-hour mentality and varied work, it all translates into a great lifestyle. "I walk to work," he says. While smaller centres may struggle to recruit professionals, Smithers does not. "There is no shortage of doctors here," he says, add- ing law firms have no problems recruiting. Some areas, though, such as northern coastal port town Prince Rupert, struggle to get lawyers to shingle up. Economically, Prince Rupert hasn't recovered from the 2004 pulp mill closure, a major employer, and the B.C. government-touted LNG developments haven't materialized. Prince Rupert's population has declined to just more than 12,000 in 2016. Sole practitioner Paul Johnston of Johnston Law says: "We need good lawyers." He estimates there are about eight lawyers in town (counting Crown counsel), but not all are full time and retirements loom. There are wide gaps in the legal services available in the city. A few new lawyers have appeared, he says, but they are providing legal aid support out of basements. "We need lawyers who are willing to open firms." Meghan Wallace, located in Masset, is another lawyer who found where she wanted to live with family and then opened an office. A 2013 call, she took a break from working in Fernie and the family of three went to Haida Gwaii, drawn by its beauty and the fact that Wallace and her husband were avid surfers. The family spent three months in a beachfront cabin and vowed to return. Today, she is one of two lawyers (both women) who are based on the island serving a population of 5,000. B.C.'s Okanagan is booming with the moneyed rush of retirees. James Paterson, managing partner for Pushor Mitchell LLP, based in Kelowna, has 35 lawyers and a staff of 90 and counting. "We have been very fortunate of late and been able to attract some top candidates," he says, even pulling in a securities lawyer from Calgary as a result of Alberta's slowdown. There's no shortage of calls or articling students wanting to work in the Okanagan. He sees changes. "The millennials are British Columbia Regional Report British Columbia by the numbers 627 59 1,585 31.6 40-54 Number of new lawyers (314 men and 313 women) Percentage of lawyers in the Vancouver region Number of non-practising lawyers (656 men and 929 women) Percentage with a legal practice in civil litigation Age group with the largest group of lawyers (2,362 men and 1,788 women), followed closely by the 20-39 age group 11,668 1,041 Number of practising lawyers (4,574 women and 7,094 men) Number of retired lawyers (261 women and 780 men) Source: Law Society of B.C. 2016 Report on Performance

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