Canadian Lawyer

letters to the editor Send your letters to: gail.cohen@thomsonreuters.com Lower the pay for articling students I just received my November-December issue and read your editorial ["To article or not to article", Canadian Lawyer, November-December 2012). Recently, after reading coverage of "the articling problem," I asked a friend, who is a partner in a respected mid-size Toronto firm, how much they paid their articling students. I was quite shocked by his answer: $75,000 (this is significantly more than comparable firms were paying 28 years ago, I can assure you — and that is after factoring in official CPI increases of course). Perhaps I'm being simplistic or naive here, but might not a significant part of a solution come from some Law Society of Upper Canada "encouragement" to lower the costs to the firms that employ students — at least the portion of the costs made up of salaries? Why couldn't the LSUC promote a campaign along the theme of firms increasing their complement of articling students by, say, 20 or 25 per cent, but for the same total salary cost as last year? So, if Firm X had 10 students last year at a total salary cost of $750k, this year they could be encouraged to hire 12 students for the same $750k. The students, it is true, would earn $62,500 not $75,000 — but the difference is not huge, and the salary is certainly still much higher than "a living wage." Unions do the same kind of thing at times, of course, where they will agree to job-sharing or salary reductions to keep more members employed. My father graduated from Osgoode Hall in the mid-'50s. He said it was not uncommon that articles were unpaid (you're a student after all). I realize the burden to firms and mentors is not just financial. But if the expense hit was less, and firms all got on board, I think such a scheme could help. Robert Armstrong Toronto 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. KICKING OUT OF THE CASTLE 2012 CORPORATE COUNSEL SURVEY BEYOND BIAS November/December 2012 Comments from canadianlawyermag.com $7.00 Re: The battle for the personal injury dollar, November-December 2012 ROGER OATLEY LLP OATLEY VIGMOND SLOAN MANDEL THOMSON ROGERS • Have you succesfully prosecuted cases through trial/ appeal? • How long have you exclusively practised in the field of personal injury? — online comment/response from SLOAN MANDEL Re: "'There is objective criteria that the public should consider,' which DOLLAR FOR THE PERSONAL INJURY Mandel suggests should Mr. Mandel, lead potential clients to Thanks for this concrete list. It choose one of the three E'S MULTI-MEDIA ADVERTISING THE PERSONAL INJURY ALLIANC ING WAR TO IN THE MARKET CAMPAIGN IS THE LATEST SALVO AL CLIENTS. is helpful. Too often the injured firms in the alliance." GET THE ATTENTION OF POTENTI are told to "ask questions" and So what are these to "do research" when hiring a "objective criteria?" It would lawyer. This merely begs the questions such as be nice if somebody had thought to mention them. So what questions/research on what. Should Ontario far the "battle" has adopted the "subtle" advertisers auto accident victims and/or their families search versus "crass" advertisers lexicon — without so CANLll and FSCO to get a sense of the lawyer's much as a single word by way of useful criteria to success/thoroughness? If so — what should help "consumers" find a "good lawyer." What about they look for? Challenging the opposing experts searching the track record of personal injury lawyers perhaps? If not, why not? at FSCO and CANLll — is that a good idea? — online response from BRIAN — online comment from BRIAN Brian, Searching CANLII or FSCO is useful, but will not The objective criteria to which I referred show the results of jury trials. would include: If you have been seriously injured, my advice is • Are you certified by the Law Society of Upper to look to the questions I've already listed, and if you Canada as a civil litigation specialist? (or someone you know) have meaningful contacts • Have you been idententied as a leading in the personal injury field, ask that person to give practioner in peer review publications? you the names of two or three top firms or lawyers. • Have you been published or recognized as an Then, interview more than one lawyer to see who is authority in the field, and by whom? THE BATTLE the best fit for you and your family. Seriously injured people need strong advocacy. I doubt that any right thinking person would disagree. People should do some homework before they put their economic future in the hands of a complete stranger. — online response from SLOAN MANDEL DALE ORLANDO PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT # 40766500 MCLEISH ORLANDO LLP 12-10-29 3:40 PM CL_Nov_12.indd 1 6 Jan uary 2013 www.CANADIAN L a w ye r m a g . c o m Re: Making a quick exit, November-December 2012 I am a third-generation Ottawan and have an obvious bias for my great city. One of my theories is that dull people find Ottawa dull. Dogpatch? Please!! Ours is a thriving city full of cultural, educational, entertainment, sports, and recreational opportunities. My father was a judge for almost 30 years in Ottawa, first as a County Court judge then as a District Court judge when the change from the county system occured. He finished his career with the Superior Court post-merger. Prior to merger, my father was offered an appointment to sit on the Ontario Supreme Court in Toronto. I will be forever grateful to his memory that he turned down the offer that would have had us living in the "centre of the universe." Dad always did prefer to be slightly right of centre and so do I! — online comment from KEVIN DOYLE

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