It’s February 2009, and Cindy Vaillancourt and David-Emmanuel Roberge are landing in Haiti. It’s a far cry from frigid Montreal, where the pair spend much of their days in front of computer screens as environmental lawyers at McCarthy Tétrault LLP. Roberge marked his 31st birthday on the plane. The celebration quickly gave way to shock when one of the reasons for their trip appeared outside the window: swathes of deforestation threatening to devastate the island nation’s ecosystem.

Flying down a ski hill at over 100 km per hour might sound intimidating to some, but for Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP tax lawyer Ian Balfour, it was a way of life.

Job losses are everyday news these days. Look in any paper and you’ll find stories of how the failing economy is resulting in massive cutbacks. The legal industry hasn’t been on the front page though, at least not yet and not in Canada. But is there reason to be fearful of what’s down the road?

Two years ago, young Quebec business lawyer Louis-Thomas Deschênes was at a crossroads in his legal career.

Labour mobility has long been a challenge for Canadian companies and professionals moving between provinces. For years if a lawyer wanted to move from one province to another, licensing was a major hassle. However, law societies across the country have taken steps to make mobility easier.

From east to west, Associates' editors and readers round up fun ways to spend your time and dollars.

The economy sucks, the weather sucks, and (gasp) no Canadian Idol to warm the cockles of your heart as you deal with a long winter. Nevertheless, at Death Star law firms all across the country, an idol of a different variety is heating up: Associate Idol. You may perhaps know this creature by it’s pseudonym: “the associate review.�

Many people are under the misconception that being a sole proprietor is a venture of arrogance and solitude. They couldn’t be more wrong.