From the President: New Initiatives Intended to Ensure Competence and Professionalism

by Jim Peacock, QC, President, Law Society of Alberta

By the time this message appears in print, all of the Law Society's 100th anniversary events will be over. They have been successful mainly due to the dedication and commitment of a hard working planning committee and many volunteers as well as the unstinting efforts of Law Society staff. I cannot name all of those responsible here. However, the 100th Anniversary Planning Committee was co-chaired by J. Patrick Peacock, QC and Phyllis Smith, QC. The committee has been working together since 2004,

In this Issue

planning the many events that took place this past year. The Law Society has not just spent this year celebrating its centennial. The benchers have been working on initiatives to amend the rules concerning Assurance Fund claims and matters that come before the Credentials and Education Committee with a view to making the procedures for such claims and matters more

Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin spoke about past legacies and future directions in her address at the 100th Anniversary Gala Dinner October 4, 2007.

efficient, more transparent and more effective. The Law Society is also moving forward on a continuing professional development initiative, about which you will read more in this issue of The Advisory.

As the regulator of the legal profession, the Law Society of Alberta is mandated to act in the public interest.

This means that, on occasion, we undertake initiatives that may not always be popular with lawyers but that are intended to ensure that, as the regulator of the legal profession, the assurance we give the public of lawyers' competence and professionalism is matched by reality. In order to properly do so, the Law Society

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Humble Roots Give Rise to 50 Years of Lawyering

Excerpt of speech given by Jim Peacock, QC, President, Law Society of Alberta at the Long Service Awards in Calgary, October 24, 2007.

In 1957, the Honourable Ernest C. Manning was the Alberta premier, the population of Calgary was almost 200,000, and the Law Society of Alberta had a cumulative membership of 1844, 791 of whom were active in 1957. But also in 1957, the Honourable Mr. Justice D.B. Mason, Henry Beaumont, W. Gordon Brown,

Bill Code and Paul Havelock were called to the Alberta bar.

The Honourable Mr. Justice David Blair Mason was born in Montreal, received his bachelor and law degrees from the University of Alberta in 1955 and 1956 respectively. He articled under MacDonald Millard, QC, and began his career with the firm Mason, MacLeod and Company. He has served as an agent for the provincial

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