These are the jokes, folks

Why won’t sharks attack lawyers?

Professional courtesy.

 

Did you hear about the group that hijacked a plane full of lawyers?

They called down to ground control with their list of demands, threatening that if their demands weren’t met, they would release one lawyer every hour.

 

We’ve all heard them. Books have been published in an attempt to compile them all. Lawyer jokes.

The topic of lawyer jokes recently surfaced on my desktop when someone emailed the following e-card to me from Rottenecards.com:

After laughing at the card my mind turned to the fact that, in my experience, the vast majority of lawyers do not fit the “bad lawyer” stereotype and are honest, hard-working people who are dedicated and committed to making their communities a better place. Don’t believe me? Besides their “day job” helping their clients, lawyers routinely volunteer their time and expertise for any number of causes relating to social justice. Look around your community. Believe me now?

I am proud to be a member of the Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia (“TLABC”), which is dedicated to protecting and promoting justice. This is not an empty mission statement. There are numerous examples that prove the TLABC “puts its money where its mouth is”. Here are just two:

 

1.  Courtroom Hearing Fees

The TLABC was instrumental in obtaining one of the landmark decisions from the Supreme Court of Canada in 2014: Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia v. British Columbia (Attorney General), 2014 SCC 59. This case involved a child-custody dispute in which a woman could not afford the $3,600 she was charged for a ten day trial.

The BC Government charged no fee for the first three days, $500 daily for days four to ten, and $800 for every day past that. These fees were the highest in Canada.

Long story short, thanks to TLABC members who dedicated their time and expertise pro bono on behalf of the TLABC and the public, The Supreme Court of Canada struck down the Hearing Fees as being unconstitutional because they prevented access to the courts.

 

2. Jury Fees

The BC courts currently require a litigant to pay $1,500 forty-five days before trial, two thirds of which is non-refundable, $800 daily for days two through ten, $900 a day for the following 39 days, and then $1,200 a day for every trial day beyond that. These fees are the highest in Canada.

In another step to ensure the courts are available to everyone, the TLABC recently launched an action against the BC Government arguing that Jury Fees are an expensive and unfair barrier for people seeking justice. Like the Hearing Fees case, this will likely involve years of litigation ending with the Supreme Court of Canada. If that’s not putting your money where your mouth is, I don’t know what is.

Lawyer jokes have been around a long time. Like all jokes, some are funny, and some aren’t. They don’t bother me because, beyond the setups and punch lines, the reality is this: dedicated lawyers are a positive force in their communities, working actively each and every day to improve the lives of the people who live in them.

And that’s no joke.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.