The Lawyers Object - Canadian Bar Association Denounces Maclean's Cover Story

"He attacks the legal profession on several fronts. "It has become a business: interested in profit, not interested in making judgements, not interested in providing access to poor people or even middle-income people," a practice that can be "fundamentally undemocratic," he says."<br />
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A statement backed up by the Retiring Justice Gomrey -<br />
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"Canada's justice system is on a "suicidal" path that cannot be reversed unless lawyers cut their fees and governments put more money into legal aid, says Justice John Gomery, the straight-shooting judge who led the 2004-2005 inquiry into the federal sponsorship scandal."<br />
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"His parting assessment of the administration of justice is the latest shot at a system that has been widely criticized for being inaccessible and producing a surge in litigants showing up in court without lawyers.<br />
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The most recent national figures on lawyers' fees, contained in a two-year-old survey by Canadian Lawyer magazine, peg the average hourly rate for a lawyer with 10 years of experience at $170 to $260, depending on the region.<br />
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The average price of a contested divorce in 2005 was $8,505, while it cost an average of $20,830 to go to court for two days in a civil trial. The magazine did not publish a survey in 2006 and 2007 because not enough lawyers responded to make the results meaningful."<br />
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<a href="http://tinyurl.com/2vqk6y">http://tinyurl.com/2vqk6y</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/245216">http://www.thestar.com/comment/article/245216</a><p>---<br>The preceding comment deals with mature subject matter, however immaturely presented. Viewer discretion is advised.<br />

<blockquote> The Canadian Bar Association has "condemned in the strongest possible way" the latest Maclean's cover story, claiming the article "paints a distorted, one-sided and sensationalized picture of the legal profession." </blockquote>I don't suppose it has occurred to the august CBA that this "distorted" view the general public has of lawyers did not spontaneously generate itself overnight.<p>And I don't suppose it would occur to the CBA that the best way to counter this "distortion" would be <b>by example</b> to the contary........</p> You know......it's not good enough to be good. But it is good enough to be be <b>seen</b> to be good. But then, were lawyers to even contemplate practicing charity, I imagine there's be quite a lot of spontaneous combustion occurring amongst the profession............of course, that could be a good thing.......... <p>---<br>"When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." <br />
-Max Planck<br />
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