BarTalk February 2002
Volume 14, Number 1

by Terry La Liberté QC

The CBA Lawyers Benevolent Society was created in 1997 in response to a long-term concern for those of our colleagues and their families who had experienced crisis in their lives and needed help. In the past our profession has always assisted individuals in difficulty, rallying the troops to bring aid in a multitude of ways. The Kootenay bar raised funds to assist a lawyer a few years ago in the 90s and were so successful that they had more than $5,000 to jump start the Society’s Fund. The CBABC Provincial Council, at the urging of the late Al Bates and others, asked The Hon. Gary Cohen and I to organize the Society and begin fundraising.

Our Board of Directors includes Judge Gary Cohen (Vice Chair), Debra Van Ginkle (Secretary), Carol Anne Brown (Treasurer), H.A.D Oliver, QC, Paul Beckmann, QC, Bill Sullivan QC, Derek Brindle, QC, Basil Hobbs, John Waddell, QC, Jim Herperger, and Dennis Mitchell, QC. The Society has virtually no overhead or administrative costs because of the tireless efforts and selflessness of these individuals.

With the aid of Ben Trevino, then Treasurer of the Law Society, we passed a $20 per member assessment to create a capital fund with the hope of passing additional assessments in the subsequent four years. We were encouraged by the universal support we received that first year and the next year, rather than waiting, were able to pass a further one time $80 assessment giving us a capital fund of around $900,000. We rely mainly on the interest from this fund to exist.

Three years ago we entered into an affiliate agreement with MBNA Mastercard wherein we receive a small rebate from them for our members’ use of their credit card. To date fewer than two hundred members have begun to use the card but we have received $2,000-$3,000 per year from that alone. We encourage all of you, as an easy way of supporting this cause, to attain and use an MBNA Benevolent Society Credit Card.

We have held successful fund-raising events to supplement our income, such as a joint CBA and Vancouver Bar golf tournament, and for the last two years, a Black Tie Gala. In 2000 it was a Murder Mystery Evening at the Art Gallery with Chief Justices McLachlin and McEachern as special guests. The Hon. Wally Oppal presided at the Mock Trial and was resplendent (as usual) in his judicial wig. Last year’s event was an incredible fashion show and dance at the Bayshore, with an auction of original fashions donated by prominent Vancouver designers.

This year our intrepid organizers, Catherine Sas, Derek Brindle, and Bill Skelly have decided that BC lawyers are a most talented group of people and, following a similar successful effort by Ontario lawyers, are planning a Battle of the Bands in the Spring of this year (time and location are yet to be determined). We have already had amazing interest expressed. “Derek and The Defenders” and Murray Tevlins’ group (he’s tried to enter under the pseudonym “Pro Bono and You Too” but it sounded too much like cheap advertising) have dusted off their Stratocasters and are ready to take on all challengers.

For the Victoria Bar and all who can make it on March 16 at the Deep Cove Chalet, there will be a Roast to honor Sid Simons for simply surviving all these years. Speakers will include The Hon. Wally Oppal, Bert Oliver, QC, Dave Gibbons, QC, and Peter Firestone. All proceeds will go to the Benevolent Fund.

To date we have given thousands of dollars to our colleagues and their families in times of crisis. We need your continued support in these and other fund-raising efforts, so please attend and consider the Fund in your local Bar activities.

Terry La Liberté is the Chair and Co-founder of the Benevolent Society of BC. He has practised criminal law for more than 25 years.

This article was published in the February 2002 issue of BarTalk and is subject to the copyright by the British Columbia Branch of the Canadian Bar Association, 2005, all rights reserved.