When veteran Calgary lawyer Brian Paterson tells you he’s passionate about higher law, he’s not talking about the Alberta Court of Appeal.
How much higher? Look up. Look w-a-a-a-y up.
Paterson may be the only practising lawyer in Western Canada with the words “loving” and “kindness” etched on his business card.
He bills himself as a holistic lawyer. That tends to jolt preconceptions. A generalist who accepts family, commercial and even criminal cases, Paterson refuses to try to beat a charge by means of a technicality.
“I believe people have to take responsibility for their behaviour,” he said. “I couldn’t put those arguments forward with any kind of good conscience.”
Say what? A lawyer with a conscience? What would Johnny Cochran say? Paterson avoids court, whenever possible. He challenges the theory that solutions to a conflict in law can only emerge from an adversarial battle royal.
“Instead of Win Big, our attitude should be: Let’s heal this,” he says. By now, you may have concluded that Calgary’s only holistic lawyer must be starving, too.
How could such a mellow minnow thrive in a tank teeming with hammerheads? Actually, Paterson smiles wryly while telling you he “came out of the closet” (holistically speaking) five years ago, and that his client numbers are “wonderful.”
Truth is, the concept may not be as far “out there” as it might sound. Paterson and about 50 other holistic lawyers across the country fit in with a trend to “collaborative law,” which has gained favour from a growing number of family court judges.
About 45 Calgary lawyers belong to a collaborative law association, which formed here last February.
Hows it work?
“Each side in a domestic situation hires a collaborative lawyer, and signs an agreement they won’t go to court. Court’s not an option, so you work it out,” Paterson explained.
And mediation is the Next Big Thing at all legal levels, to the relief of stressed judges everywhere.
Intermediary methods such as Alternative Disputes Resolution (ADR) have also become a popular way to shorten major lawsuits, and to significantly cut costs. “ADR is virtually mandatory in Court of Queen’s Bench,” said Paterson.
“You can’t take a case to trial until the parties have at least tried to reach a compromise.”
A graduate of Calgary’s William Aberhart high, Paterson waded into the pool like any other aspiring young sharklet.
He entered U of C law school with the requisite sympathy for the underdog, and other garden-variety ideals. But the post-graduate paper chase whipped that out of him soon enough.
“There’s something about law school that’s dehumanizing. I started off very idealistic, but by the time I got out, a lot of that was gone,” he grimaced.
“You begin to think like a lawyer — you see a car accident, and instead of saying: ‘My god, is anybody hurt?’, you say: ‘ Who’s gonna pay?’ ”
After articling, Paterson set himself up in business 13 years ago. Looking back, he sees himself as an angry young man, more angry than most.
“I’ve had criminal cases where I thought: ‘My god, how could (my client) have gotten off?’ I did my job, but didn’t feel good about it.”
As he grew older, not much changed (“I became an angry middle-aged man,” he said) until five years ago, when he embarked on his “spiritual journey.”
Ignoring a basic tenet of law school, Paterson resolved to get closer to his clients — not just their legal issues.
Say a client wants to start a business. Paterson will probe the clients “hopes and dreams,” explore the roots of his passion, identify and soothe his fears. “I love to be part of that.”
Yep, the man talks pure treason.
“I don’t believe lawyers are here to aggravate a situation, or drag it out for years, or to bankrupt somebody on the other side, or to be deceitful or manipulative.”
Pretty subversive, huh?
Maybe. But wouldn’t you love to hear more lawyers talking that way?
He may not be rolling in greenbacks, like O.J.’s lawyer. But Paterson sleeps like a baby, and doesn’t wince when he glances in a mirror.
I wonder if Johnny Cochran can say the same.
