HEEDING THE CALL TO THE BAR

Diverse Array Of Interests Marks B.C.'s Freshest Crop Of New
Lawyers

Hundreds of well dressed guests sit in temporary chairs under the
sloping glass roof of the Vancouver Law Courts. They've heard
inspiring speeches about new beginnings and long roads ahead, and they
now gaze up to the six tiers of ivy-covered concrete that rise above
the law courts' lobby as they await the end of a long droning list of
names.

It could only be the call and admission ceremony where new lawyers are
accepted to the B.C. bar.

Some of these 147 new B.C. lawyers are transferring into the province
from other jurisdictions. But most of them recently completed law
school, articling terms and the Law Society of British Columbia's
professional legal training course.

This fresh-faced and eager bunch are ready to embark on careers such
as operating a sole practice, being a partner at a large firm, working
as an in-house lawyer at a large corporation or even politics.

Dressed in the black robes and white tabs that identify them as
lawyers, B.C.'s newest lawyers walk to a podium and sign the
barristers and solicitors' roll and are presented a certificate by Law
Society of British Columbia president Ralston Alexander.

"They're upholding a profession that has been well ensconced in the
province for more than 120 years," said Law Society CEO Tim McGee.

The Law Society holds three of these ceremonies each year. As in past
years, the September ceremony is both the largest and the final one of
the year.

The ceremony is heavy on pageantry, but it does not bestow the legal
entitlement to practice. Strong demand for lawyers encourages law
firms to certify their new recruits as soon as possible. So many
lawyers earned the right to practice at a small swearing-in ceremony
the day they finished their articles.

Two trends are clear from recent years. More lawyers are transferring
into B.C. from other jurisdictions, and more women are becoming lawyers.

Women first outnumbered men at being called to B.C.'s bar in 2000,
when 196 women and 191 men earned the right to practice law.

Men outnumbered women the following year, but since 2002 women have
been the majority of the province's new lawyers each year.

Those young women lawyers are have a range of specializations,
backgrounds and driving passions, as is clear from a look at Conroy
and Co.'s Katrina Pacey and Lawson Lundell's Johanna Fipke.

Pacey is a lifelong Vancouverite who entered law inspired by the idea
of helping marginalized people and supporting the marijuana
legalization movement.

She donates time to be president of the Pivot Legal Society, which
aims to improve the life of the homeless, prostitutes and other
vulnerable people. And she completed her B.A., her masters degree in
women's studies and her law training at the University of British Columbia.

The 31-year-old commutes to Conroy and Co.'s Abbotsford offices
because that's where one of Canada's best known drug lawyers, John
Conroy, bases his practice. Conroy is working to keep the Canadian
government from extraditing pot crusader and entrepreneur Marc Emery
to the United States for selling marijuana seeds south of the border.

"I had the option to work in Vancouver, but I chose to work with John
Conroy because he's one of the few people who has combined activism
and lawyering," Pacey said.

Fipke's delight comes from helping business executives execute
mergers, acquisitions and other complex corporate moves. Originally
from Kelowna, she moved to Vancouver last year after completing all
her education at Edmonton's University of Alberta.

Fipke chose Vancouver for its weather and its status as the largest
city in western Canada, and because it's in her home province.

"I think a bigger urban centre has more business and corporate work,
whereas Kelowna is more geared toward estate planning or family law,"
she said. "I just thought that a bigger firm is where I wanted to be."

Fipke and Pacey received licenses to practice as lawyers earlier this
summer, but that didn't diminish the excitement they held for the
public call to the bar.

"My family is coming to the ceremony, and it marks a milestone in my
life," Fipke said. "After years of hard work, it's nice to go through
the formal recognition that I'm no longer a student. I'm a lawyer."