PREPARED

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
e are fast approaching the longest day of the year.
W For many Northerners this means the pressure is
on to spend as much time as possible on a patio, in a boat
or otherwise in the sunshine . It is also a mid-way point in
the year and so an opportunity to check in on how 2013 is
progressing and where we want it to go.
adopt the most appropriate Code applicable to this
jurisdiction. The Insurance Committee is reviewing
changes to the governance structure at CLIA in order to
maintain the availability of stable insurance coverage. As
well, we are on schedule in the recruitment efforts for a
new Executive Director.
The topic of mobility arose at last December’s AGM and it
has remained on the Executive’s radar
throughout 2013. In 2014, the Federation of
Law Societies had planned to look again at
the factors impeding territorial
participation in full mobility. We have
recently learned that it will be largely up to
the Territories to put this on the
Federation’s agenda. This is a welcome
opportunity to take ownership of
Territorial Mobility and define what
mobility can and should mean for the
north. The Executive will continue to use
the momentum we had started to generate
with a soon-to-come an information notice
to members and an open meeting for all
members next fall.
Caroline G. Wawzonek
Our Executive has continued to build on
I also want to encourage you to find a few minutes during
this mid-year to take a step back from your
practice and consider if this is where you
expected to be back on January 1st and if
this is where you want to be on December
31st. If the answers are not want you want
them to be, now is a great time to act.
There are resources available on the
webpage of not only our Law Society but
other law societies across Canada that can
help you evaluate your professional life
and offer resources to improve areas that
you may find challenging from office
management to client relationships.
Finding the time to think about where you
may be often goes hand in hand with
finding the time to relax and recharge. For
some, it may be that all you need to
work from prior Executive Committees to establish and
develop a work plan as a guiding document to structure
the broad goals and plans for the Law Society. The existing
work plan has already proven valuable in helping to
motivate change is a little more time in the sun. Several
law societies make available practice advisors who not only
can provide advice to lawyers with specific practice
questions, but will also assist a lawyer to establish (or reestablish)
coordinate the various projects underway within
good office management systems. If you already
committees. Our next step is a workshop session to help are where you want to be: congratulations!
establish the work plan as a permanent tool for future
One other key message for all lawyers is that a duty exists
Executives. It is also our hope that a session of this type
for all of us to help support our colleagues in the legal
will become an annual opportunity for future Executive
profession. Obviously this includes making time for formal
Committees to continue to improve the efficiency of Law
Society governance.
As always, all of the Law Society’s committees remain hard
at work. For example, we are seeking input from the CBA
and FLSA on their respective Codes of Conduct in order to
assist the Legal Ethics and Practice Committee review to
mentoring, both mentors and potential mentees, but it can
also be far more casual and day-to-day. It may be as simple
as taking time for a coffee with a colleague when you have
a hunch that something is wrong. We owe it to ourselves
and the profession we share to take those few moments and
check in with ourselves and each other.
2 ■ MAY/JUNE 2013 ARCTIC OBITER