Unusual challenge to LSO head comes after some benchers call for new leadership
In an unusual development, multiple Law Society of Ontario benchers are vying for the regulator’s treasurer role before the incumbent has served a second term, as some benchers call for new leadership to navigate the fallout of an executive pay scandal.
Benchers who nominated two challengers to Peter Wardle, the LSO treasurer since June 2024, told Law Times on Monday that such challenges are atypical. While the LSO holds an election for the treasurer role each year, sitting treasurers are conventionally not challenged when they run for re-election for a second one-year term.
Each treasurer for the LSO has served a two-year term since 2006. According to LSO news releases dating back to 2021, the regulator’s last two treasurers, Jacqueline Horvat and Teresa Donnelly, did not face challengers when they were up for second-year terms in 2021 and 2023.
Last week, the LSO announced the two challengers, benchers Murray Klippenstein and Stephen Rotstein. Klippenstein was nominated by benchers Ryan Alford and Louis Gagnon, while Rotstein was nominated by benchers Jennifer Gold and Michael Radan.
“While tradition holds that the treasurer is typically re-elected for a second term by acclamation, these are extraordinary times,” Gold told Law Times. “Open discussion and debate about the law society’s future are essential.
“We need a different vision for Convocation that is focussed on greater accountability and transparency,” she added. “I believe that Stephen Rotstein is committed to these values and will lead Convocation towards meaningful change.”
Alford also noted the convention of sitting treasurers running for their second terms unchallenged.
“I chose to nominate Murray Klippenstein under these circumstances because Peter Wardle needs to be held accountable for his role in the ongoing scandal at the LSO so that we can restore confidence in our regulator,” Alford said in an email.
“Accountability to the legal profession demands that [he] step down from the position of treasurer,” Alford said. “Instead, he has made the shocking decision to run for re-election to lead the regulator. I believe the lawyers and paralegals of this province would find this unacceptable.”
A spokesperson for the LSO said the regulator remains neutral during benchers and treasurer elections and declined to comment.
The LSO has been mired in controversy since February, when news broke that the regulator had retained former associate chief justice of Ontario Dennis O'Connor to investigate the circumstances of an employment contract former CEO Diana Miles signed last June. Former LSO Treasurer Jacqueline Horvat signed off on the contract, which substantially increased Miles’ pay, without notifying benchers.
Miles departed the LSO hours after benchers first gained access to O’Connor’s report.
In March, Wardle unveiled an action plan to reform the LSO’s governance process related to executive compensation. Last week, the LSO announced it had retained a governance expert to help implement O’Connor’s recommendations.
