University Women’s Club members, guests, and the public are invited to a candidates’ forumfeaturing six women (Jenny Kwan, Dawn Black, Sherry Wiebe, Laura McDiarmid & 2 Green Party members) seeking election to Provincial Legislature in Vancouver ridings. This politically balanced panel, moderated by Club Member and City Councillor, Suzanne Anton, will offer lively dialogue to enrich our understanding of the issues at hand.

Please join us for a great opportunity to hear each candidate speak and respond to your questions.

Monday May 4, 2009 at 7:30 pm

Admission by donation

Refreshments will follow

The University Women’s Club of Vancouver
Hycroft
1489 McRae Avenue
Vancouver, BC

604-731-4661
uwcv@uwcvancouver.ca
(Just East of 16th & Granville)

Author Steven Johnson does 10-minute presentation of The Ghost Map, his book about a cholera outbreak in 1854 London and the impact it had on science, cities and modern society.  It is particularly interesting in light of the current public health issues we are facing.

Date: Saturday, April 25, 2009 from 8:30 AM - 6:30 PM (PT)

Location: WorkSpace 400-21 Water Street (Gastown)

What is it: A one-day (un)conference about social media and mental health.

Vancouver’s first Mental Health Camp is happening on April 25th, 2009 from 9am to 6pm at WorkSpace in Gastown. This unconference locates itself at the intersection of social media and mental health, with an emphasis on how blogging can help remove the stigma of mental illness.

Mental Health Camp started as a follow up to the wonderful Northern Voice ‘09 panel “Coping Digitally: Breaking Stigma and Healing Mental Illness Through Blogging and other Social Medi” where Tod, Airdrie and Isabella shared their story.

The unconference now has a dedicated website : http://www.mentalhealthcamp.org

We hope that Mental Health Camp will provide participants with a safe and comfortable environment to share ideas and discuss ways in which the Internet, blogging and social media can help bring issues of mental health to the forefront to be talked about respectfully and in a collaborative fashion, and to help break down the stigma associated with mental health.

On Friday, June 19th, the West Vancouver Memorial Library Foundation is hosting the 13th Annual Mallet Masters Croquet Tournament.

The Mallet Masters is an outdoor, white glove affair at the beautiful Ambleside Greens Golf Course.  This year’s theme is: “Hampton’s White Party” and the MC will be Mayor Pamela Goldsmith-Jones.   Over 300 guests come out for an entertaining afternoon of croquet and socializing at this spectacular venue followed by a champagne cocktail party and white glove dinner service. The tournament has sold-out every year of its twelve-year history and is one of the most popular events in West Vancouver.

All proceeds from the tournament will go towards the West Vancouver Memorial Library. This much-loved institution is hands down the most popular and well-used public facility in the city with over 523 Youth Programs and 426 Adult programs hosted last year. Almost 520,000 visitors walked through the front doors and 1 million items were circulated. For a community with only 60,000 citizens (including Lion’s Bay and the surrounding area), these are impressive statistics.

For more information, please contact:
Elizabeth Dunbar, Tournament Coordinator foundation@westvanlibrary.ca
Phone:  604-925-7425  Fax: 604-925-5933

When:   Saturday, April 25th from 9:00 to 4:00

Where:  West Vancouver Memorial Library (lower floor)

1950 Marine Drive , West Vancouver

To bring the community’s realities into focus, a vision needs to be articulated

and goals need to be set. Throughout 2009, the District of West Vancouver

will be developing a community-based Strategic Plan.

The Open Space Dialogue revolves around a discussion about the

following questions:

• What inspires you to make West Vancouver home?

• What is unique about our past?

• What are the issues of today we need to face?

• What should West Vancouver be in the future?

Participants will imagine what the future West Vancouver should look

like, and define how to get there. West Vancouver is a community with

high aspirations, yet we are challenged by an economy in recession.

We have worked together to construct the Official Community Plan,

and benefited from citizens volunteering their time and expertise to

Working Groups. We have an abundance of potential initiatives,

but limited resources to execute them.

We all value the social and environmental qualities that make West

Vancouver unique.

Please RSVP, lunch will be provided

Email strategicplan@westvancouver.ca or call Brent Leigh at 604-925-7003

For more information visit westvancouver.ca/strategicplan

We are not just a traditional law firm with a work life balance policy. Instead, work life balance forms the fundamental underpinning of our firm. We have a innovative model of legal practice, centered on the concept of how to enable work life balance for all. We are currently an all-female firm, specializing in wills and estates, family law and mediation. Technology plays a critical role in our success.

A February 2007 cover story of California Lawyer magazine was entitled “We’re Outta Here: Why Women are Leaving Big Firms.” The article noted the serious issue of high attrition rates from the legal profession:

“The past few years have witnessed the highest levels of associate attrition ever documented, with an average annual attrition rate for both sexes of 19 percent, as recently reported by the NALP Foundation for Law Career Research and Education. Within five years of entering a firm, more than three-quarters of associates leave. Female associates were nearly twice as likely as males to depart to pursue a better work/life balance.”

The article’s key quote was:

“If law firms want to get the best and brightest young women to join them and stay, they will likely need to change radically and adopt different definitions of sacrifice and partnership.”

It bears noting that work life balance is not just a woman’s issue. Particularly among Generation X and Y lawyers (generally thought to be people born between 1965-1980 and 1981-1995 respectively), there seems to be an increasing emphasis from both men and women on their wish for work life balance and the flexibility to enable them to also pursue family, community and personal health goals.

In May of 2008, the Law Society of Upper Canada’s Retention of Women in Private Practice Working Group produced a report identifying best practices to promote the retention and advancement of women in the private practice of law. The report noted that the oft cited barriers to work life balance in large law firms are the unavailability of support and benefits such as part-time partnerships, part-time employment, predictable hours, job sharing and flexibility in hours. Women in small firms or in sole practices were noted to face challenges such as lack of income or benefits during leaves and lack of assistance to maintain the practice during absences.

Heritage Law certainly doesn’t provide an example on how to stem the tide of lawyer attrition from big law firms. We do provide a successful example of female lawyers and staff in a small firm who are happily remaining and thriving in the practice of law. We have built a system of support for each other to facilitate flexibility while maintaining high service levels to clients.

In short, we have developed a sustainable law firm model that respects the well being of our staff while striving to do the very best for our clients. Both the professionals and the clientele of Heritage Law benefit as a result.

Dave Bilinsky, the Practice Management Advisor the Law Society of BC, has been so incredibly helpful, generous and supportive in helping grow Heritage Law.

I started Heritage Law in June of 2005 and attended the Pacific Legal Technology Conference that he chairs that fall. I was immediately excited about the benefits to a new solo firm and have been experimenting with and implementing technology solutions ever since. I also attended a Solo and Small Firm Conference chaired by Dave which was full of practical advice and tools to practice law more efficiently and effectively.

I have also read and appreciated Dave’s writing, including Flying Solo: A Survival Guide for the Solo Lawyer, Law Office Procedures Manual for Solos and Small Firms, the Law Practice Magazine, Amicus Attorney in One Hour for Lawyers, his articles in Bar Talk and his blog http://www.thoughtfullaw.com.

He is also very generous with his time personally, despite clearly juggling many balls in the air.  In short, he is just a great asset - not just for me but for many other lawyers out there and the profession at large.

That is all.

Law Day 2009 will provide the public with the opportunity to learn about the law, the legal profession and the legal institutions that form the cornerstones of our Canadian democracy.

On Saturday, April 25th from 10AM to 3PM all residents of the Greater Vancouver area are invited to come down to the Central Vancouver Public Library, located at 350 West Georgia Street (between Homer, Hamilton and Robson Streets). At Law Day, the public can learn what the justice system is doing to keep us safe on the streets and in our homes while upholding the rights of all Canadians under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The Law Day activities will include a public forum featuring CBC broadcaster Ian Hanomansing as the moderator and a panel consisting of:
• The Honourable Chief Justice Brenner, Supreme Court of British Columbia
• The Honourable Chief Judge Stansfield, Provincial Court of British Columbia
• Superintendent Warren Lemcke, Vancouver Police Department
• Assistant Commissioner Peter German, RCMP
• Peter McKnight, Columnist, The Vancouver Sun

The panel will not only provide open and frank presentations, but they will also answer the questions put to them by the members of the public in attendance.

The Law Day Open House will also include informative displays from a variety of legal organizations, free law classes courtesy of the People’s Law School, and a Citizenship Ceremony presided over by Chief Justice Finch.

On Law Day, the Canadian Bar Association British Columbia Branch will also hold its province-wide “Dial-A-Lawyer” as part of Law Week. Lower Mainland residents are invited to call 604.687.3221 between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm to speak with a lawyer for up to 15 minutes at no cost.

For more information about BC Law Week, visit: www.bclawweek.org.