The world of law is one that has become glamorized through the world of entertainment. From Will Truman’s fun loving lawyer in "Will & Grace" to the intense drama of "The Practice" and "The Firm" some people view law as an exciting, thrill-a-minute edge-of-your-seat profession.
"That is hardly the case" laughed Darryl Aarbo, who along with Sandra Sebree and Gary Courtney runs Courtney Sebree Aarbo, a law practice in Kensington. "Law doesn’t mirror the TV world, other than Law & Order, which does reflect criminal law. Practicing law is a profession; you are regulated and have certain ethical standards. However you are also running a small business – and anyone who does that knows there isn’t a lot of glamour to that. It’s a lot of hours, constant problems from staffing and rent. Things go wrong like a computer breaking down while you are supposed to be dealing with clients. Trying to balance money, work and life is hard work. The amount of time I spend, as a litigator in court is a very small amount. For every day you spend in court you spend 15 days preparing for it. Most of my time is spent doing paperwork; law is essentially paperwork."
The firm, which will celebrate its 10-year anniversary this December, was formed when Gary Courtney and Sandra Sebree met at a party. From there, Courtney left his firm, and they rented the space they still presently occupy. In 1998, Aarbo joined as an associate, buying into the partnership on January 1, 2003. All three partners are gay, and together bring a variety of experience that they can offer a great deal to their clients, gay and straight.
"Courtney does some minor criminal, nothing intense like rape, murder, treason or the like. He does a lot of criminal offences in the gay community, such as representing people in the Goliath’s raid or when the police sweep the parks. He also does a lot of corporate work, solicitor’s work and some litigation. We do a lot of real estate, wills and estates. We all have different backgrounds and come from different parts of the community," said Aarbo. "I worked for a large multinational firm in Toronto for many years, and do mostly litigation, employment and human rights. Gary worked for a mid-sized local firm; Sandra worked in social services and now does family law and dependent adult work. The people of Calgary should realize that we have a lot to offer. Some people have an image of a small firm that can’t provide a certain level of service. That isn’t the case with this firm, we have a lot of experience, and are here because we want to work for the community, and we choose the lifestyle of a small firm. We all get along very well, and work hard regardless of the size of the case."
In addition, they specialize in same-sex separation, having taken the time to study that little known aspect of the law.
"There aren’t a lot of lawyers who are familiar with the law involving same sex partnerships, and it has changed quite drastically recently. There are certain aspects to a gay separation that a lot of lawyers don’t deal with."
Another important aspect is the workplace human rights program they offer to companies to help them learn how to prevent Human Rights violations.
"We started it up three years ago. It is directed at Employers to pro actively avoid human rights complaints and problems, so they can get the education, policies and procedures in place before it becomes an issue. We also deal with companies if there is a problem, to provide counsel. We are not an employer directed firm; most of our clients are on the employee side. The goal is to help educate employers. We don’t defend human rights violators in this firm."
Although not 100 percent of the business arena, Courtney Sebree Aarbo is the legal representation for a number of gay businesses as well as private members of the community. Aarbo feels that is important that gays and lesbians can feel comfortable with their lawyers, and that is one of the priorities of the company.
"I can’t speak to the original purpose of the firm, but I would imagine that was one of their goals because there was no firm that catered to the gay community. A lot of people feel more comfortable with a gay lawyer. For example, in business if your partner is also your life partner, some are more comfortable about talking to a gay lawyer about structuring their business and personal affairs."
Aarbo feels the firm is needed in Calgary and likes the role they play in the community.
"We provide a service just like anybody else. We provide good quality legal services to the gay and lesbian community, although we aren’t exclusively gay and lesbian. More than half of my clients are straight, but we certainly provide the service for someone who wants a good gay or lesbian lawyer. We also provide an educational role; about once a year we do a seminar in the community. We generally don’t refuse any gay or lesbian clients if we can do the work. If anybody calls up, we generally do the best we can to accommodate them. For example, if they were on legal aid, we would likely take a GLBT client, where we may not take another legal aid case. We are amenable to discussing fee issues and such in order to help out."
The only work the firm doesn’t handle is immigration, high-end tax law, securities, copyright and patent laws, as those are all very specialized parts of the law. However if they can’t help you, they will gladly refer you to someone who is both well qualified for your needs, as well as gay-friendly.
"The community should however feel free to call us and get a gay-friendly reference. We know who in the city is gay, lesbian, or friendly. That way you don’t call an anti-gay lawyer on a same-sex immigration case. If you have a legal problem in Calgary, if we can’t help you we will find a qualified gay friendly lawyer who will."
From a legal standpoint, the firm has seen a great deal of change for the better, in Alberta and Canada.
"There have been huge changes. It didn’t start with the Vriend case; you can’t pinpoint where this starts because it is always based on precedence, but most of the cases since then have flowed from the floodgates from that decision. Since then we have seen a lot of practical changes," Aarbo said. "The most recent is marriage, although the status of gay marriage in the province of Alberta is still in doubt. Still, marriage is available in Canada. In Alberta, on April 1, 2003 the government passed a comprehensive common-law legislation that covers both same and opposite sex common-law couples. There are still holes and work to be done, but there was a great deal of change. Of course, this being the province of Alberta and Ralph Klein, it just wasn’t advertised. It was generally in response to the Vriend decision, and follow-up decisions, where the province was forced to give more rights to Gay Couples. And the Government did follow through in an almost secretive way. It is hard to get that message out even to the GLBT community because even the gay press didn’t know about this legislation."
The big hot button presently is gay marriage, and Aarbo gave his thoughts on what the future holds for this contentious issue.
"With the minority Government it is really hard to predict where it will go. I support the Liberals, but they are very good at stalling and putting things on the backbench. Over the next four years, I think they will put off the decision until they can get a majority in Parliament – until they can pass the marriage laws and force provinces to adopt it. If that doesn’t happen and it comes to a head before then (which may happen with Stephen Harper) then you may see some sort of Civil Union instead of marriage laws, and do away with state sanctioned marriage and go with Civil Unions; nobody can get married unless in a church. I don’t think it will be an issue because I don’t think Stephen Harper wants it to be. He wants to prove he is moderate and as soon as marriage comes on the plate, the party will be shown to not be [moderate], so everyone is quite content to let it sit on the backburner for the next few years."
As the firm looks forward to the future, Aarbo paused to reflect on the past decade. Although they have been an asset to the gay and lesbian community, the fact remains that without the community’s support, the firm may not have seen the 10-year mark.
"The gay community in this city has been very good to this firm, and we’ve tried to repay that with outstanding hard work. It is amazing how loyal the gay community is. A gay and lesbian firm with gay and lesbian lawyers has been supported by the community, and that says something good about them – they support their own. So thank you to everyone who has supported us, and we look forward to many more years."
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Contributor Jason Clevett |
Locale Calgary |
Topic Business Review |
