BarTalk April 2003
Volume 15, Number 2

24 Hour Relay for the Kids

Every summer, nearly 1,000 B.C. children with disabilities find limitless adventures during one-week trips to Easter Seal camps, thanks in large part to the legal profession. It’s time to rally the troops and join the ranks of legal practitioners who are once again vying for the Legal Division trophy. This celebrated award goes to the top fundraising team in the Legal Division of the annual 24 Hour Relay for the Kids, this year being held June 14 and 15th, at Swangard Stadium in Burnaby.

Last year’s winner for top fundraising team in the Legal Division was Borden Ladner Gervais, raising a total of $18,144, which placed them 10th overall. Alexander Holburn Beaudin & Lang came second in the division with $11,085. Both teams are returning, each hoping to take home the hardware for 2003.

For information on this event call 604.873.1865 (or visit www.24hourrelay.com/vancouver).

Arts Club and VBA Present Fundraiser

Following on the heels of last year’s sexy thriller, Witness for the Prosecution, the Arts Club Theatre Company and Touchstone Theatre, in association with the Vancouver Bar Association, will join forces again this year to present a collaborative fundraising production of The Government Inspector by Nikolai Gogol, on Friday, April 25 and Saturday, April 26, 8 p.m. at The Stanley Theatre.

An important focus for the event is that partial proceeds benefit the Lawyers’ Benevolent Fund and the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre. Last year, thousands of dollars were raised for the CBA Lawyers’ Benevolent Fund and the Arts Club is pleased to add support for the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre this year. Last year’s production was a great success. Come support your colleagues again this year (real lawyers and judges in all roles) and witness members of British Columbia’s legal community perform outside the courtroom in this important fundraising event! Visit www.artsclub.com for more details.

Hooplaw Raises Almost $40,000

On March 1, 2003 the Hooplaw Charitable Foundation held its annual Charity Basketball Tournament in support of children’s charities. The event was again a resounding success. More than 200 lawyers, judges and law students participated in raising almost $40,000. This year’s fundraising efforts were the most successful in the tournament’s eight-year history. Twenty teams participated in two divisions with the UBC law students winning the competitive division and Borden Ladner Gervais LLP prevailing in the recreational division.

Tournament organizers would like to thank the following sponsors: Red Carpet Food Services, Axa Pacific Insurance and HSBC. In addition, special thanks to the following four law firms for their significant fundraising efforts: Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP, Clark Wilson, Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, and McCarthy Tétrault LLP.

Hooplaw would like to thank all those individuals who participated or made a donation to this very worthwhile cause. If you were not able to participate this year, it’s never too early to start getting in shape for next year.

Making Death a Part of Life

On February 22 “Making Death a Part of Life,” a public forum on death and dying, took place at the Vancouver Public Library. Display booths explored the choices available so that people can live with dignity while preparing for death, and offered information about support services for people in the final stages of life, and their caregivers. More than 120 people stopped by the CBA booth, where they could talk with lawyers about Wills and Estates or the Dial-A-Law and Lawyer Referral programs. Thanks to Shelley Bentley, Noreen Brox, Susan Hart, Roger Holland, Nicole Todosichuk, and Anthony Wooster for volunteering their time.

These articles were published in the April 2003 issue of BarTalk and are subject to the copyright by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, 2005, all rights reserved.