Law Times

Page 2 January 26, 2015 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com NEWS Lawyers offer up solutions to racial disparities Suggestions include mandatory diversity stats, alternate complaint system By yamri Taddese Law Times he Law Society of Up- per Canada is asking the profession what it should do about its recent finding that minor- ity lawyers and paralegals have lower success rates in securing jobs and more than 40 per cent believe their race is a barrier to advancement of their careers. On Jan. 15, members of the legal profession, the vast major- ity of them visible minorities, came to a public meeting in To- ronto to make suggestions that included mandatory collection of law firm data on diversity, bolstering diversity education for lawyers while they're still in law school, and improving representation at the law soci- ety itself. The meeting, one of many scheduled across Ontario over the coming weeks, follows the release of the law society's consultation paper on the chal- lenges faced by minority law- yers and paralegals in the fall. Statistics collected by the law society's working group on the issue show black and South Asian lawyers are proportion- ately more likely to be in small and sole practices and much less likely to be at medium- and large-size firms. "The law society doesn't regulate law firms, so there are statutory restrictions on what it can do," said Toronto law- yer Lee Akazaki during the meeting in Toronto. As a solu- tion, he suggested the law society should ask individual lawyers if their law firms have diversity policies when they're filling out their annual member's report. "Put that question in a manner that 'I don't know' isn't an answer," he said, suggesting that if enough lawyers take the question to their managing partners, firms might just develop diversity policies. But merely developing di- versity policies would be incon- sequential, according to other participants who suggested hav- ing something written down should be the bare minimum expected of law firms. Arleen Huggins, president of the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers, suggested there should be mandatory collection of law firm data on diversity. "There is no real debate about the need for it," she said, adding that firms should not only be collecting data but should be sharing it publicly as well. Thomas Santram, vice presi- dent for legal at Cineplex Enter- tainment LP, agreed with Hug- gins. "You can't legislate kind- ness. You can't legislate fairness. You basically have to shame people," he said. "Everyone can have a policy, but it doesn't change anything," he added. As the conversation went on, a participant rose to address what seemed to be the elephant in the room: an all-white panel representing the challenges faced by racialized licensees working group. The participant garnered ap- plause from the audience when she noted the panel was "com- pletely unrepresentative." "The law society should mir- ror the change it wants to see," she said. Criminal defence lawyer Robert Richardson told the pan- el he hasn't seen much change in bencher diversity at Convoca- tion despite long-standing ef- forts to address the issue. Those were fair comments, according to Bencher Janet Leiper, co-chairwoman of the working group. "They're just asking the logi- cal question: Why do we not see the group that we see ref lected in the consultations on our working group and at Convocation?" she tells Law Times, adding that al- though both the working group and Convocation have some rep- resentation, they don't look like the profession they serve. "Our working group is about nine people. We have a blend of people in our working group, but obviously on some nights, some of us will be there and some of us won't be. What we're trying to do is not focus on the symbols but focus on the substance." Leiper adds, however, that the law society has commit- ted to doing an equity audit of its own operations. "If we're going to be working with firms, of course we have to be looking at our own operations," she says. For some participants at the consultation, the lack of law firm managing partners in the room that night spoke volumes. "We get it. We all get it in this room. We have to make connec- tions outside this room," said Huggins. According to Leiper, the law society's working group will try to reach out to as many managing partners as its resources will al- low in order to engage them in the discussion. The goal, says Leiper, is to go back to Convocation with "concrete" recommendations. "We want something that's got some concrete application, that would be of assistance. We want something to move the dialog," she says. The report to Convocation may come in two pieces, accord- ing to Leiper. "But our motiva- tion, our goal is to do something that will be relevant, that will help make change, and will not get in the way of change that's already starting to happen." Some of the conversation dur- ing the consultation focused on mentorship for minority lawyers. The focus on mentorship follows a finding that many of them lack strong professional networks. Zeeshan Adhi, a lawyer trained in England who has practised law in Pakistan, told the panel about the difficulty he has had in securing a job, a problem he believes partly stems from his lack of contacts. Others asked the law society to create a system for discrimi- nation complaints that wouldn't have repercussions for the com- plainant's reputation. "We're certainly sensitive to the fact that many times com- plainants don't want to pursue a complaint that would end up in a formal process that would have them identified," says Leiper, add- ing the law society would look at other ways to address complaints about systemic discrimination. The law society will be ac- cepting submissions from the profession on how to address those issues until March 1. Members of the profession can also participate in upcom- ing consultation meetings in London, Ont., on Jan. 26; New- market, Ont., on Jan. 27; Sud- bury, Ont., on Jan. 30; Oshawa on Feb. 3; Ottawa on Feb. 5; Thunder Bay, Ont., on Feb. 23; Hamilton, Ont., on Feb. 24; and Toronto on Feb. 25. LT For many years, Heintzman and Goldsmith on Canadian Building Contracts has had a tradition of excellence in providing a systematic analysis of the law related to Canadian building contracts. 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