IN THIS ISSUE:
 Cover Story  
Health-Care Checkup
by Julius Melnitzer

The need for legal services in the health-care arena continues to grow as issues become more complex and the challenges become greater. An overhaul of Canada's health-care system could be a boon for lawyers experienced in the health-care, biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical-device industries

The Supreme Court of Canada struck Québec's ban on private health insurance for publicly funded health-care services in June 2005. As a result, Chaoulli v. Quebec (Attorney General) allowed for alternative methods of insurance and health-care delivery and gave new impetus to the national debate over the merits of a two-tier system.

“Chaoulli has led to a much broader public understanding that governments can't restrict the provision of health-care services without looking at ways to make it affordable by expanding the tool kit to the private sector,” says Linda Parsons, QC, who leads Davis LLP's Health Law Practice Group.

 Feature Story  
Consultants Take Flight
by Marzena Czarnecka

Services available to law firms have diversified, with several new entrants vying for business in marketing and communications as well as business and professional development, and with seasoned veterans refocusing their offerings. What are they selling and why are law firms buying it?

Adam Pekarsky jumped off a cliff last summer. He resigned from his partnership with Korn/Ferry International, a global executive search firm, and started The Pekarsky Group. One of his new company's first mandates was recruiting talent for Ogilvy Renault LLP's Calgary greenfield.

But recruitment is just one of the services offered under the umbrella of The Pekarsky Group's People Matters practice. Others include retention, succession planning and career counselling, while People Matters is one of three “legs” of the company's business model, complemented by Client Satisfaction and Student Services.
Winds of Change
by Sandra Rubin

Following a sweeping overhaul of the way large commercial trials in the UK are run, more change is heading the way of British litigators, including the consideration of a new cost regime and permission for barristers to become partners in law firms

The winds of change are blowing in the United Kingdom as litigators there face several new challenges. Pushback against the high cost of litigation, bottlenecks in the courts and the tangle of multi-jurisdictional proceedings are among the forces starting to rock Britain's centuries-old legal structures.

The country's barristers and solicitors are still digesting the fallout in the wake of a sweeping overhaul to the way large commercial trials are run, yet more change is already hurtling their way. The Ministry of Justice is considering a proposed new cost regime that could, if adopted, open the door to contingency fees and curb levels of disclosure.