The Law Society of Upper Canada has elected 15 fresh faces among the 40 benchers heading to Convocation following this year’s elections.
Twelve incumbents didn’t run, including seven forced to step aside as a result of governance reforms passed in 2009. A further three sitting benchers failed to make the cut this time around, according to results released on May 2.
Avvy Go came in 22nd in Toronto, while Carl Fleck fell in the southwest region. Ottawa sole practitioner William Simpson, who ran for treasurer last year against Laurie Pawlitza, is also out after 12 years as a bencher.
The number of new faces will possibly rise to 16 later this month should Pawlitza formally step aside as an elected Toronto bencher to reassume her position as treasurer. Peter Wardle, who finished in 21st place in Toronto, would be another novice at Convocation.
New Bencher Janet Leiper is looking forward to getting started in her new role. “It’s a great time to join the panel, partly because of the fact there are a lot of new people coming in who will bring a new set of perspectives,” says Leiper, who will be joined by Toronto newcomers Wendy Matheson, Barbara Murchie, William McDowell, John Callaghan, Malcolm Mercer, and Howard Goldblatt.
Outside Toronto, eight new people won election: Robert Evans (central east); Joseph Sullivan and James Scarfone (central south); Virginia MacLean (central west); Adriana Doyle and Robert Wadden (east); and Michael Lerner and Jacqueline Horvat (southwest).
In Toronto, 13 of the 20 elected benchers come from firms with more than 10 lawyers, compared with six who practise at smaller firms. Outside Toronto, small firms are better represented, taking nine of the 20 elected positions there. Six of the benchers from those regions are in private practice at firms with more than 10 lawyers.
Other candidates, including Lerner of London, Ont., were keen to play up their sole practitioner roots in their materials even when they’ve since moved on.
Lerner, now a partner at Lerners LLP, started out his practice in 1974 at a one-person branch of the firm before moving to the main office in 1988.
“I certainly have the ability to sympathize with the small and sole practitioners who still have to be a jack of all trades,” he says. “In this era of electronic and Internet overload, I sometimes wonder how they manage.”
Lerner isn’t the first person from his family at Convocation. His uncle served during the 1970s, while his own father was a bencher for 16 years between 1975 and 1995. He later became a life bencher.
Lawyers at both ends of their careers are a priority for him as he heads to Osgoode Hall. Lerner says he wants the LSUC to help law students get practical experience before they’re thrown into practice following an increasingly truncated articling period and a bar admission process he feels is “nothing more than a correspondence course.” He also thinks senior practitioners could have a role to play.
“I know several lawyers in smaller communities who are unable to get out of practice because they can’t find anybody prepared to take over their practice on any basis,” he says.
“There’s a real responsibility for us to match and marry young graduates and young lawyers to these senior practitioners who are trying to wind down because it’s the public who is going to suffer if we aren’t able to replace them.”
At 18, the number of women benchers elected tied 2007’s record for their highest representation at Convocation. Three of them claimed the top spots overall. University of Ottawa law professor Constance Backhouse finished highest with 5,534 votes.
That means she got a vote from more than 35 per cent of all of those who cast ballots. Pawlitza followed closely behind with 5,421 votes. Toronto litigator Linda Rothstein came third with 5,393 votes.
At the other end of the spectrum, Nicholas Pustina won re-election with just 731 votes as he remains a northwest regional bencher.
In each of the eight regions, the candidate with the most votes from his or her own region becomes a regional bencher. With 65 per cent of the 160 voters in the northwest region opting for Pustina, he was elected despite an overall total that placed him 46th out of a total of 53 candidates from outside Toronto.
The law society also managed to arrest a declining trend in voter turnout. The rate has been on the plunge since 1987, decreasing at every election until this year. The 1987 peak was 56 per cent, but by 2007 that had fallen to 34.5 per cent. In 2011, 15,592 lawyers cast ballots for a turnout of 37 per cent.
Former treasurer Derry Millar put the rise in part down to a switch to electronic voting away from the old paper ballots and materials. Just 100 lawyers requested paper packages after Convocation made arrangements to accommodate those who preferred the old system.
“I think that electronic voting made it a very simple and easy process to participate,” Millar says. “It’s the way of the future and it worked very well.”
He also believes the governance reforms, which limited bencher terms and created a host of new vacancies this time around, helped get lawyers interested in the vote.
“Of course, we’d always like to see more people vote, but hopefully as changes in the governance process work through, that will help with increasing voter participation. We also had an excellent group of candidates from all over the province, so that helped.”
But Goldblatt believes the electoral process may need some reform itself. Voting was open for most of April when the campaign was already almost two months old.
“It’s a longer campaign than the federal and provincial elections combined,” says Goldblatt, a founding partner at Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP. “For people at small firms and single practitioners, it’s a very difficult exercise and it’s possible we’re missing some very good people simply because they haven’t got the time or the money to enter into the campaign.”
Sole practitioner Monica Goyal was one candidate who used social media and technology effectively to raise her profile, but it wasn’t enough to win. She came in 29th in Toronto with just under 2,000 votes but was pleased with the result. That was enough to pass Ontario Bar Association president Lee Akazaki, who amassed 1,400 votes.
“Considering everything, I’m relatively unknown compared to a lot of the people who were running,” Goyal says. “Many of them have very impressive legal resumés.”
Despite the number of new benchers, she worries that the fact that few younger lawyers got elected may leave some issues off the table for the next four years.
“It’s a different legal landscape for lawyers starting out now than it is even for people even 10 years out. It’s difficult to get an articling position, and the job landscape is very different.
“I think there was a good discussion about some of these issues, and they can’t ignore it. Hopefully, we can keep some of the momentum going and maybe start having some of the dialogue outside, if not at, Convocation.”
Twelve incumbents didn’t run, including seven forced to step aside as a result of governance reforms passed in 2009. A further three sitting benchers failed to make the cut this time around, according to results released on May 2.
Avvy Go came in 22nd in Toronto, while Carl Fleck fell in the southwest region. Ottawa sole practitioner William Simpson, who ran for treasurer last year against Laurie Pawlitza, is also out after 12 years as a bencher.
The number of new faces will possibly rise to 16 later this month should Pawlitza formally step aside as an elected Toronto bencher to reassume her position as treasurer. Peter Wardle, who finished in 21st place in Toronto, would be another novice at Convocation.
New Bencher Janet Leiper is looking forward to getting started in her new role. “It’s a great time to join the panel, partly because of the fact there are a lot of new people coming in who will bring a new set of perspectives,” says Leiper, who will be joined by Toronto newcomers Wendy Matheson, Barbara Murchie, William McDowell, John Callaghan, Malcolm Mercer, and Howard Goldblatt.
Outside Toronto, eight new people won election: Robert Evans (central east); Joseph Sullivan and James Scarfone (central south); Virginia MacLean (central west); Adriana Doyle and Robert Wadden (east); and Michael Lerner and Jacqueline Horvat (southwest).
In Toronto, 13 of the 20 elected benchers come from firms with more than 10 lawyers, compared with six who practise at smaller firms. Outside Toronto, small firms are better represented, taking nine of the 20 elected positions there. Six of the benchers from those regions are in private practice at firms with more than 10 lawyers.
Other candidates, including Lerner of London, Ont., were keen to play up their sole practitioner roots in their materials even when they’ve since moved on.
Lerner, now a partner at Lerners LLP, started out his practice in 1974 at a one-person branch of the firm before moving to the main office in 1988.
“I certainly have the ability to sympathize with the small and sole practitioners who still have to be a jack of all trades,” he says. “In this era of electronic and Internet overload, I sometimes wonder how they manage.”
Lerner isn’t the first person from his family at Convocation. His uncle served during the 1970s, while his own father was a bencher for 16 years between 1975 and 1995. He later became a life bencher.
Lawyers at both ends of their careers are a priority for him as he heads to Osgoode Hall. Lerner says he wants the LSUC to help law students get practical experience before they’re thrown into practice following an increasingly truncated articling period and a bar admission process he feels is “nothing more than a correspondence course.” He also thinks senior practitioners could have a role to play.
“I know several lawyers in smaller communities who are unable to get out of practice because they can’t find anybody prepared to take over their practice on any basis,” he says.
“There’s a real responsibility for us to match and marry young graduates and young lawyers to these senior practitioners who are trying to wind down because it’s the public who is going to suffer if we aren’t able to replace them.”
At 18, the number of women benchers elected tied 2007’s record for their highest representation at Convocation. Three of them claimed the top spots overall. University of Ottawa law professor Constance Backhouse finished highest with 5,534 votes.
That means she got a vote from more than 35 per cent of all of those who cast ballots. Pawlitza followed closely behind with 5,421 votes. Toronto litigator Linda Rothstein came third with 5,393 votes.
At the other end of the spectrum, Nicholas Pustina won re-election with just 731 votes as he remains a northwest regional bencher.
In each of the eight regions, the candidate with the most votes from his or her own region becomes a regional bencher. With 65 per cent of the 160 voters in the northwest region opting for Pustina, he was elected despite an overall total that placed him 46th out of a total of 53 candidates from outside Toronto.
The law society also managed to arrest a declining trend in voter turnout. The rate has been on the plunge since 1987, decreasing at every election until this year. The 1987 peak was 56 per cent, but by 2007 that had fallen to 34.5 per cent. In 2011, 15,592 lawyers cast ballots for a turnout of 37 per cent.
Former treasurer Derry Millar put the rise in part down to a switch to electronic voting away from the old paper ballots and materials. Just 100 lawyers requested paper packages after Convocation made arrangements to accommodate those who preferred the old system.
“I think that electronic voting made it a very simple and easy process to participate,” Millar says. “It’s the way of the future and it worked very well.”
He also believes the governance reforms, which limited bencher terms and created a host of new vacancies this time around, helped get lawyers interested in the vote.
“Of course, we’d always like to see more people vote, but hopefully as changes in the governance process work through, that will help with increasing voter participation. We also had an excellent group of candidates from all over the province, so that helped.”
But Goldblatt believes the electoral process may need some reform itself. Voting was open for most of April when the campaign was already almost two months old.
“It’s a longer campaign than the federal and provincial elections combined,” says Goldblatt, a founding partner at Sack Goldblatt Mitchell LLP. “For people at small firms and single practitioners, it’s a very difficult exercise and it’s possible we’re missing some very good people simply because they haven’t got the time or the money to enter into the campaign.”
Sole practitioner Monica Goyal was one candidate who used social media and technology effectively to raise her profile, but it wasn’t enough to win. She came in 29th in Toronto with just under 2,000 votes but was pleased with the result. That was enough to pass Ontario Bar Association president Lee Akazaki, who amassed 1,400 votes.
“Considering everything, I’m relatively unknown compared to a lot of the people who were running,” Goyal says. “Many of them have very impressive legal resumés.”
Despite the number of new benchers, she worries that the fact that few younger lawyers got elected may leave some issues off the table for the next four years.
“It’s a different legal landscape for lawyers starting out now than it is even for people even 10 years out. It’s difficult to get an articling position, and the job landscape is very different.
“I think there was a good discussion about some of these issues, and they can’t ignore it. Hopefully, we can keep some of the momentum going and maybe start having some of the dialogue outside, if not at, Convocation.”
Fifteen new faces will be joining Convocation following Law Society of Upper Canada bencher elections that wrapped up on Friday.
In Toronto, the newcomers are Wendy Matheson, Janet Leiper, Barbara Murchie, William McDowell, John Callaghan, Malcolm Mercer, and Howard Goldblatt. Returning stalwarts from across the province include Treasurer Laurie Pawlitza, Ra j Anand, Linda Rothstein, Beth Symes, Constance Backhouse, Thomas Conway, and Judith Potter among others. For a full list of the 40 elected benchers, visit the law society’s web site.
Eight of the new benchers come from outside Toronto. In the central east region, Robert Evans takes a spot at Convocation. In the central south region, the newcomers are Joseph Sullivan and James Scarfone. In the central west region, Virginia MacLean is the new face at the law society. Out east, both Adriana Doyle and Robert Wadden are fresh representatives for their region. Rounding out the list of newcomers are Michael Lerner and Jacqueline Horvat in the southwest region.
Today’s federal election overlaps with at least one of the winners in the law society vote. Carol Hartman, who’s carrying the banner for the Liberals in Sudbury, Ont., won re-election as a law society bencher. With the polls showing her party in trouble, possibly in NDP-friendly Sudbury, it might be the only victory she celebrates today.
Voter turnout in the law society elections was 37 per cent. That’s up slightly from 34.5-per-cent participation in 2007. Besides the elected benchers, Convocation also includes life and ex-officio benchers as well as lay and paralegal representatives.
In Toronto, the newcomers are Wendy Matheson, Janet Leiper, Barbara Murchie, William McDowell, John Callaghan, Malcolm Mercer, and Howard Goldblatt. Returning stalwarts from across the province include Treasurer Laurie Pawlitza, Ra j Anand, Linda Rothstein, Beth Symes, Constance Backhouse, Thomas Conway, and Judith Potter among others. For a full list of the 40 elected benchers, visit the law society’s web site.
Eight of the new benchers come from outside Toronto. In the central east region, Robert Evans takes a spot at Convocation. In the central south region, the newcomers are Joseph Sullivan and James Scarfone. In the central west region, Virginia MacLean is the new face at the law society. Out east, both Adriana Doyle and Robert Wadden are fresh representatives for their region. Rounding out the list of newcomers are Michael Lerner and Jacqueline Horvat in the southwest region.
Today’s federal election overlaps with at least one of the winners in the law society vote. Carol Hartman, who’s carrying the banner for the Liberals in Sudbury, Ont., won re-election as a law society bencher. With the polls showing her party in trouble, possibly in NDP-friendly Sudbury, it might be the only victory she celebrates today.
Voter turnout in the law society elections was 37 per cent. That’s up slightly from 34.5-per-cent participation in 2007. Besides the elected benchers, Convocation also includes life and ex-officio benchers as well as lay and paralegal representatives.
Bencher candidates weigh in on this week's poll question
Written by Olivia D'orazio Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Should the Law Society of Upper Canada move to support the expansion of paralegal practice to family law?
Gina Papageorgiou: Studies show that 60 per cent of family law litigants are unrepresented. It is a knee-jerk response to try to address that problem by expanding paralegal practice. The last Convocation report showed that there were significant problems with the spot audits done of paralegals last year, as well as a significant number of complaints about them. People involved in family law disputes are sometimes in the most vulnerable positions in their lives and they deserve the service of trained lawyers.
Avvy Yao-Yao Go: Any decision to expand paralegal practice must not be made lightly, especially in the area of family law where complex legal problems are often tangled up with even more complex human dynamics and/or power imbalances between the parties. If the rationale for expanding paralegal practice is to address the issue of unrepresented litigants in family courts, then perhaps the first logical place to look for a solution is to increase legal aid funding.
Anita Szitgeti: The most important aspect of the paralegal regulation question is that once having decided to take it on, the law society deals fairly with the issue. The specific issues surrounding the scope of paralegal practice need to be understood to be complex and require the input of those with expertise on the issue, lawyers, and paralegals alike. We need more current information than the one report we have been working with. I expect where we may end up is expanding the role of paralegals subject to lawyer supervision.
Gina Papageorgiou: Studies show that 60 per cent of family law litigants are unrepresented. It is a knee-jerk response to try to address that problem by expanding paralegal practice. The last Convocation report showed that there were significant problems with the spot audits done of paralegals last year, as well as a significant number of complaints about them. People involved in family law disputes are sometimes in the most vulnerable positions in their lives and they deserve the service of trained lawyers.
Avvy Yao-Yao Go: Any decision to expand paralegal practice must not be made lightly, especially in the area of family law where complex legal problems are often tangled up with even more complex human dynamics and/or power imbalances between the parties. If the rationale for expanding paralegal practice is to address the issue of unrepresented litigants in family courts, then perhaps the first logical place to look for a solution is to increase legal aid funding.
Anita Szitgeti: The most important aspect of the paralegal regulation question is that once having decided to take it on, the law society deals fairly with the issue. The specific issues surrounding the scope of paralegal practice need to be understood to be complex and require the input of those with expertise on the issue, lawyers, and paralegals alike. We need more current information than the one report we have been working with. I expect where we may end up is expanding the role of paralegals subject to lawyer supervision.
Time to address small firms’ unique needs, candidates say
Written by Olivia D'orazio Monday, April 25, 2011
The unique issues faced by sole practitioners and small-firm lawyers are emerging as hot topics during the 2011 Law Society of Upper Canada bencher campaign.
That’s the case despite the fact that more than half of the current benchers at Convocation are either sole practitioners or work at small firms.
Among the most pressing concerns is the steady threat of discipline. “I think that there is a disconnect that continues to exist between the law society and its members,” says candidate Paul Cooper, a lawyer from Vaughan, Ont., whose campaign involves a strong focus on sole and small-firm practitioners. “Some people feel that the law society’s main focus is on discipline.”
New online voting. Retirements that have created lots of vacancies. Lively advertising campaigns.
A key question is whether these factors will get more lawyers out to vote in the bencher elections.
Turnout has been slipping for years. The profession is too big to vote on personal loyalties. There aren’t many organized slates to rally support and get out the vote. Lots of lawyers just leave it to someone else.
Have there ever been bencher elections where voting caused big changes or even threatened to do so?
Well, maybe two or three.
Bencher candidates weigh in on last week's poll question
Written by Olivia D'orazio Monday, April 18, 2011
Should the Law Society of Upper Canada change its name to the Law Society of Ontario?
Poll results: 31% yes; 69% no.
Philip Tunley: Yes.
Robert Wadden: I think the time has come to consider this. A change of name to the Law Society of Ontario would convey to the profession and public an improved attitude of openness and communication. But since it would have to be done by the legislature as an amendment to the Law Society Act, the law society would have to ensure that the change has broad support within the profession.
Julie Jai: Yes, I think the law society should change its name to the Law Society of Ontario. Although it is important to maintain links with the past and to understand our history, it is also important to make the justice system, including governance of legal professionals, accessible to the average person. Using terms that are easier to understand increases accessibility.
Poll results: 31% yes; 69% no.
Philip Tunley: Yes.
Robert Wadden: I think the time has come to consider this. A change of name to the Law Society of Ontario would convey to the profession and public an improved attitude of openness and communication. But since it would have to be done by the legislature as an amendment to the Law Society Act, the law society would have to ensure that the change has broad support within the profession.
Julie Jai: Yes, I think the law society should change its name to the Law Society of Ontario. Although it is important to maintain links with the past and to understand our history, it is also important to make the justice system, including governance of legal professionals, accessible to the average person. Using terms that are easier to understand increases accessibility.
What happens behind the heavy wooden door at Osgoode Hall is something relatively few lawyers have witnessed. For first-time benchers, attending Convocation can be both intimidating and invigorating. And just because the seasoned benchers aren’t rookies anymore, that doesn’t mean they can’t easily recall their first memories there.
“This is the body that governs the profession,” Treasurer Laurie Pawlitza recalls thinking following her first Convocation. “And they all do it from a really small room where everybody is sitting side by side, balancing things on their lap.”
“This is the body that governs the profession,” Treasurer Laurie Pawlitza recalls thinking following her first Convocation. “And they all do it from a really small room where everybody is sitting side by side, balancing things on their lap.”
Bencher candidates weigh in on Apr. 11 poll question
Written by Olivia D'orazio Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Is the 12-year term limit imposed on elected benchers under the Law society of Upper Canada's governance reforms still too long?
Poll results: 24% yes; 76% no.
Alan Heisey: My experience sitting on other boards is that ine years as a term limit is a period of time that is more appropriate for new blood so long as there is a mix of experience. Given the elected term for benchers is four years, that would suggest a two-term limit might be more appropriate. The whole question of appropriate term limits, if any, could be put to members as a ballot question as part of the 2015 election.
Joseph Tascona: Yes. I believe there should be an eigh-year term limit, which will have a positive impact in terms of new ideas and fresh approaches to the challenging and changing issues facing our profession. It also promotes increased competition in bencher elections as there will be a greater turnover of incumbent benchers.
Jacques Menard: In principle and in practice, I support the 12-year term limit. Yet we must be ever cautious that, as membership in Convocation rolls over, the institutional memory and expertise necessary to occasionally rein in management and keep the interests, opinions, and will of the membership at the fore is preserved. With anything shorter, Convocation could become just an assembly of people in passing with less and less ability to truly represent the membership.
Poll results: 24% yes; 76% no.
Alan Heisey: My experience sitting on other boards is that ine years as a term limit is a period of time that is more appropriate for new blood so long as there is a mix of experience. Given the elected term for benchers is four years, that would suggest a two-term limit might be more appropriate. The whole question of appropriate term limits, if any, could be put to members as a ballot question as part of the 2015 election.
Joseph Tascona: Yes. I believe there should be an eigh-year term limit, which will have a positive impact in terms of new ideas and fresh approaches to the challenging and changing issues facing our profession. It also promotes increased competition in bencher elections as there will be a greater turnover of incumbent benchers.
Jacques Menard: In principle and in practice, I support the 12-year term limit. Yet we must be ever cautious that, as membership in Convocation rolls over, the institutional memory and expertise necessary to occasionally rein in management and keep the interests, opinions, and will of the membership at the fore is preserved. With anything shorter, Convocation could become just an assembly of people in passing with less and less ability to truly represent the membership.
A coalition of equity-seeking groups has circulated a survey to all bencher candidates in an attempt to put diversity issues at the heart of this year’s Law Society of Upper Canada election.
The bencher candidate equity survey, which quizzes candidates on their approach to equality and diversity, was distributed on behalf of the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers, the Ontario Bar Association’s sexual orientation and gender identity section, the Women’s Law Association of Ontario, the South Asian Bar Association, the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers, the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association, and the Hispanic Ontario Lawyer Association. Together, the groups are represented on the LSUC’s equity advisory group.
The bencher candidate equity survey, which quizzes candidates on their approach to equality and diversity, was distributed on behalf of the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers, the Ontario Bar Association’s sexual orientation and gender identity section, the Women’s Law Association of Ontario, the South Asian Bar Association, the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers, the Arab Canadian Lawyers Association, and the Hispanic Ontario Lawyer Association. Together, the groups are represented on the LSUC’s equity advisory group.
As part of its ongoing election coverage, Law Times has created a map of where all of the candidates are according to their electoral region. Click here to view a PDF of the map.
Poll Question
Should the Law Society of Upper Canada move to support the expansion of paralegal practice to family law?
no - 70.9%
yes - 27.8%
Total votes: 79
The voting for this poll has ended on: 25 May 2011 - 09:11