Law Times

Page 2 NEWS November 4, 2013 Law Times • Articling assessments relaunched BY YAMRI TADDESE Law Times Join Us to Celebrate The Future of Advocacy The Advocates' Society 50th Anniversary Symposium December 4 th , 2013 9:00 am - 4:30 pm Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Toronto The Advocates' Society is celebrating its 50th anniversary! We invite you to join us as we commemorate 50 years of distinction and look ahead to another 50 years of Excellence in Advocacy. Hear from World Renowned Speakers as we look towards the Future of Advocacy. Symposium Topics Include: New Forums for Dispute Resolution The Evolving Art of Persuasion Class Action Settlement Implementation International Criminal Prosecutions Advocacy Against the Odds Tickets are limited. For more details, contact Rachel Stewart at rachel@advocates.ca or at (416) 597-0243 ext. 129. AdvocatesSociety_LT_Oct28_13.indd 1 13-10-23 1:16 PM ANNOUNCEMENT FIREMAN STEINMETZ is pleased to announce the admission to partnership of Jasmine Daya and James Fireman  The firm will be known as FIREMAN STEINMETZ DAYA Recruiting? www.firemanlawyers.com Fireman Steinmetz_LT_Nov4_13.indd 1 13-11-01 9:33 AM Post your position on Great rates. Great reach. Great results. Contact Sandy Shutt at sandra.shutt@thomsonreuters.com for details. www.lawtimesnews.com JobsInLaw 1/8 pg 3X.indd 1 2/15/11 4:22:11 PM L awyers who hire articling students will once again have to complete a performance-based evaluation of their students-at-law. Law Society of Upper Canada benchers approved a motion in October that would reintroduce articling evaluations the regulator had phased out in 2009. The law society is currently unsure what the new evaluation will look like, but the goal is to ensure students who go through articling and those who do the alternative option, the law practice program, have equivalent skills. At this point, the law society has little information about what students actually learn during their articles, according to Bencher Janet Minor. "Currently, we do not have very rigorous information or requirements about what goes on in articling. The law society doesn't and hasn't asserted control over exactly what happens or how the experience is felt by either students or principals," she said. "We haven't monitored it in a way that we can ensure there is consistency and certainly there have been no assessment requirements, merely a sign-off on the part of principals," she told Convocation on Oct. 24. The law society had earlier phased out articling evaluations due to resistance from articling principals who found them burdensome. At the time, the law society had concerns the extra work would lead lawyers to reduce already-scarce articling positions. "That is less of a concern now because we know we will have the LPP and if there are principals who simply decline to participate in this kind of evaluation system, there is an alternative," said Minor. Toronto lawyer Saul Glober, who hires articling students, says completing evaluations may take up some time but it's not something he dreads doing. "I co-operate and sort of do my best to follow whatever they give us to fill out and if it's a bit cumbersome, it might make me ponder a bit but I think that's part of my duties if I decide to take on that kind of responsibility," he says. "I'm happy to help out in any way I can." Although there are few details at the moment, the law society's professional development and competence committee wrote in a September report that the evaluations would assess articling students in four key areas: 1. Establishing client relationship. 2. Matter management. 3.Advocacy. 4. Ethics, professionalism, and practice management. The law society says the information isn't enough to allow it to formulate the final assessment all students will undergo. Some 'Without a critical benchmark, I am concerned that this three-year pilot project will become a four- or five- or six-year pilot project,' says Paul Schabas. benchers expressed concern the time lag may extend the pilot project beyond the intended three years. "Without a critical benchmark, I am concerned that this threeyear pilot project will become a four- or five- or six-year pilot project," said Bencher Paul Schabas. Minor admitted that despite help from experts, the law society committee in charge of designing the new program is finding that developing a final assessment will be a "complex and time-consuming process." During the meeting, benchers also approved a budget allocating half a million dollars to building the law practice program. The budget includes a one-time allocation of $500,000 towards building the alternative program. At this point, the LSUC says that amount is merely an estimate as the program is still in development. "The lawyer licensing process is undergoing major change and, at the time of drafting, the financial implications of the changes are unknown," the budget report says. "The budget scenario assumes that the licensing process fee will be set to cover the full cost of the program net of any contribution from the Law Foundation of Ontario and any contribution from lawyers." The professional development and competence committee has yet to recommend the contribution by lawyers to the program, but the budget assumed there would be a $1-million contribution from lawyers to go into designing the law practice program. "This will reduce the fee for licensing candidates by approximately $500, assuming 2,000 candidates in 2014," the report says. Ex-officio Bencher Bradley Wright had concerns about creating more red tape through the articling evaluations. The changes may impose "additional bureaucracy, higher costs, and intrusions," he said. Another bencher, Michael Lerner, asked how the evaluation would assess students who complete clerkships. It's an area the law society is working on in collaboration with clerkship administrators, said Minor. LT

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