Feedback Sought on Recruitment Rules

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It appears that some non-participating firms are proceeding on the assumption that they can advise students where they "rank", or that they will be making offers to them at 8:00 on the offer date. This may be seen as contrary to the rules as there is no difference between making these statements and making an offer.

The LSA's important issue is the protection of the students. The student remains in control of the decision whether or not to accept it, and to the extent that the offer must be held open for the specified time, tacit "offers" before the offer date do not negatively impact the students. Either way, it is inappropriate for a firm to ask students for ranking information.

This interpretation does appear to contravene the rule and also effectively lengthens the recruitment period. The student has no legal recourse if the firm does not ultimately make an offer to the student on the offer date. The Committee recognizes that it is difficult to enforce these rules. If a firm and a student reach a tacit agreement before the offer date, no one

will complain to the LSA that rules have been breached.

Rule 49.2(4)

Rule 49.2 (4) provides that an offer of employment by a non-participating employer must be made between 8:00 to 5:00 commencing with the offer date, and must remain open for acceptance until noon on the following day the offer was made.

Firms are concerned about the time involved waiting to hear back from students because while they are waiting, they are losing opportunities to extend other offers. Smaller firms argue that they are at a disadvantage because they have few offers to make, whereas larger firms can take the risk of offering more positions than they have. The Committee understands that as a result firms have to make an uninformed guess about students accepting or not accepting an offer, and are unable to make offers to others who would qualify and want to article with them. The C&E Committee invites comments on both of these issues and on any other concerns regarding the current rules.

Invitation to Alberta Law Society's Library Opening

The Benchers of the Law Society of Alberta and Alberta Law Society are hosting an opening of the Alberta Law Society's library at the new Calgary Courts Centre. A wine and cheese reception will be held to commemorate the opening of this library at its new location on Wednesday, February 6, 2008 at 4:30 p.m.

The reception will be held at the library in Room 501-N in the Calgary Courts Centre, 601-5th Street SW, Calgary, Alberta. The reception is open to the first 200 people who reply. RSVP: Audrey Unfug, ph. (403) 297-3013 or Audrey.unfug@gov.ab.ca

Victims of Homicide Conference

May 1-2, 2008 - Fantasyland Hotel, West Edmonton Mall, Alberta

The Victims of Homicide Support Society will host bring together, in this conference, ‘first response' professionals from across Western Canada to explore the needs and issues of families who have been ‘touched by murder'.

Keynote speakers will focus on:

Victims Issues & Rights
Post Traumatic Syndrome
Justice System
Healing & Forgiveness - the Journey

Other topics to be addressed are:

Victim Service- notification & first response
Victim Stories – Panel
Criminal Rehabilitation, roots of violence
Coping with homicide - impact on families
PTSD/Grief Response
Media Coverage and Response
Restorative Justice

Registration at www.victimsofhomicide.ca opens January 25, 2008. Early Bird Registration - until March 26, 2008