The demographics of Canada’s professional community are changing rapidly. In law and medicine, women make up - and have done so for 10 years - about 65 per cent of first-year classes.

Last week’s news that Ontario’s criminal defence lawyers were ending the legal aid boycott of the most serious cases was a welcome development.

In April 2010, U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens will turn 90. If he stays in office 10 more months, he’ll outlast Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. to become the oldest judge ever to sit on that court.

I am very happy to report that the provincial government has found it necessary to put itself in my files and guide me with respect to how I should conduct my clients’ civil litigation.

Immigration lawyers have moved quickly to respond to the disaster in Haiti.

“As Canadian university professors dedicated to educating students about democratic institutions, we are deeply concerned by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s decision to use his power to prorogue Parliament for a second year in a row in circumstances that allow him to evade democratic accountability.”

Several recent cases in Ontario have raised the issue of how governments officials handle defamation lawsuits.

How did we get to the point where the criminal defence bar is on strike?

Among the many issues Ontario’s legal community will face in 2010, legal outsourcing is likely to be an important item on the agenda.

Your Dec. 14 article entitled “LSUC votes to end life terms” leaves the impression that Convocation has done little to support women in the legal profession and has been silent on the legal aid question.

In a recent article published in Law Times, I impressed upon the importance of seeking legal advice even in the Small Claims Court. I stressed that self-represented parties were prone to making irreversible legal and strategic mistakes that could prove to be costly to their case.

When I started my practice, I wanted to like all my clients and go for the gold in defending them. I lived in a dream world.