Law Times

www.lawtimesnews.com push to elect more solicitors gathers steam By anastasiya JoGal Law Times ith their low num- bers among the ranks at Convo- cation, there's a push to elect more solicitors during this year's Law Society of Upper Canada bencher election. Currently, only four of 40 elected benchers are pure solici- tors with a few more who work as both barristers and solicitors. The reason for the low repre- sentation of solicitors at Convo- cation comes down to econom- ics, according to one bencher. "I've been there 12 years. Most solicitors are in sole or small practices and the time element [is] a concern. It was a concern 12 years ago; it is a concern now," says Bencher Alan Silverstein, a full-time real estate solicitor who's finishing his last term on the law society's governing body. Ben Hanuka, a candidate in this year's election, agrees that money is an issue. It's not neces- sarily the case that solicitors don't want to run for bencher but many of them simply can't afford to run, he suggests. Even if those in sole practice are able to run, they may not have anyone to take over the practice while they tend to bench- er business, he notes. As a sole practitioner, Ha- nuka says he's aware of the chal- lenge. "Equally important is the question of sole practitioner ver- sus big firms," he adds. "Most solicitors are actually in sole practice. That's just statis- tics, and it is incredibly difficult to be a sole practitioner and to be a bencher. It is an enormous task. I am rearranging my life in case I get elected." Adding to the issue is the fact that at least three solicitors are leaving Convocation for good this year. "Solicitors do think dif- ferently than litigators in some ways," says Hanuka. "They would bring a different approach," he adds, suggesting so- licitors would look at issues more practically and have a better sense of what's in their best interests. Bencher Barbara Murchie also agrees about the importance of solicitor representation. "It is critically important that there be solicitors who are benchers," she says. "There is no question in my mind that solici- tors bring a certain perspective to the table. That being said, you have to remember that many of us who may not be solicitors work in firms where we have colleagues, partners, friends, that are solicitors and when is- sues come up we feel free to can- vass our colleagues." Silverstein is of a similar view, suggesting that while it helps to have solicitors at Convocation, the emphasis should still be on good governance. "Our role is to represent the specific organiztion that we are a director of," he says. "We are not there to represent any specific interest." Benchers in general have open minds, he adds, noting it's still a benefit to have more solic- itors. "We understand the issues better and we can express them better, but that does not mean that the non-solicitor benchers have done anything to hurt the solicitor bar." LT W Lisa Weinstein Vice President, TitlePLUS ® Ian Hu Counsel, Claims Prevention and practicePRO ® LawPRO President & CEO Kathleen Waters is pleased to announce Lisa Weinstein's appointment as Vice President, TitlePLUS® and our hiring of Ian Hu as Counsel, Claims Prevention and practicePRO®. As Director, National Underwriting Policy, TitlePLUS since 2007, Ms. Weinstein has overseen the underwriting of LAWPRO's TitlePLUS title insurance program that complements the work of the lawyer in a real estate transaction. In her new role, she will continue to oversee underwriting as well as focus on strategic direction and growing the subscriber base to meet future challenges. 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LawPro_LT_Apr27_15.indd 1 2015-04-22 2:29 PM annOUnCeMent how much do benchers earn? By yamri taddese Law Times ow much do Law Society of Upper Can- ada benchers earn? If elected, it seems candidates running for a seat at the law society's governing table can expect modest pay for their work. "Elected benchers may claim remuneration for some of the activities they undertake in perform- ing law society business, including reasonable travel times," said Susan Tonkin, a spokeswoman for the law society. The pay for a day's worth of work in 2015 is $580 and $350 per half day of work. But to be eligible for remuneration, benchers must contribute 26 days' worth of work for free. The 26 days can be either full or half days, according to Tonkin. "Benchers may be remunerated for attending Convocation and committee, task force and work- ing group meetings, as well as bencher information sessions and mandatory bencher education ses- sions," said Tonkin, noting benchers who serve on tribunal panels also receive payment for time spent on hearings, appeals, prehearing conferences, and writing their reasons for decisions. The law society said information on the earn- ings of individual benchers isn't available but noted the total amount allocated for bencher remunera- tion for 2015 is $850,000. Bencher Julian Porter, whose term ends after this month's bencher elections, says he has never filed a docket for payment for his work as a bench- er. In one of the previous bencher elections, he ar- gued against compensating benchers. "All the years that I've been there, I've never charged for any time that I've spent. I thought I should live by my vote," he says, noting he doesn't regret his decision. "I really had a good time as a bencher." Much of the current pay structure follows a model approved by Convocation in May 2004. Convocation modified the model in October of the same year and put it to the profession in a ref- erendum. About 58 per cent of voters approved the model. The law society boosted the honorarium paid to treasurers, meanwhile, in 2012. The change in- creased the honorarium by $67,000 to $175,000, a number that has since risen to $182,593. LT H The transactional costs as- sociated with the sale of Hydro One are one of the reasons critics of the deal have said the electricity transmission and dis- tribution company should stay under full public ownership. In a legal opinion arguing against the sale of Hydro One, Steven Shrybman of Sack Gold- blatt Mitchell LLP suggested that lawyers and private inves- tors would be "the immediate winners" of the deal. "Whether one shares Mr. Clark's optimism about gains that may ultimately be achieved by privatization, it is clear that the immediate winners will be private investors and the legal and invest- ment firms that will prepare and underwrite any IPO," he wrote. "The cost of legal and finan- cial services for the previous at- tempt to privatize Hydro One, as disclosed by the IPO, was signifi- cantly in excess of $100 million. At least over the short term, and perhaps indefinitely, these imbal- ances between public and private benefits also call into question the reasonableness of any privatiza- tion decision," he added. That price tag of $100 million is "to me, an awful lot of money," Shrybman tells Law Times. "I wonder about the inf luence that may be exerted by those who stand to benefit from the transac- tion cost on the policy develop- ment process of the government," he says, suggesting there should be full transparency on the pro- cess leading to the sale. Opposition politicians have raised similar concerns. "There seems to be a fair amount of money that people can make in this sale from traders to law- yers," says Peter Tabuns, the NDP's energy critic. "People will be advised on how to write contracts; they'll be advised on how to structure their holdings," he adds. Although the Hydro One sale is novel, the work isn't necessarily going to be more complex than with other transactions, accord- ing to Barrett. If a lawyer or law firm is acting for Hydro One, they'd have to, as with any other initial public offering, describe in the disclosure the nature of business and set out the various pieces of information a prospec- tive buyer of the shares would want to know, such as how much the company pays its executive board and what risks the new owners would face, says Barrett. For Bay Street, the prospects for legal work may go beyond the sale of Hydro One itself. Part of Clark's recommendation was the removal of tax impediments to private equity ownership of local electricity distribution companies. "There has been a lot of pol- icy papers and thought pieces about how we have too many of these [companies] in Ontario and they're very inefficient," says Barrett. "The impediment to private equity coming in and buying them up and merging them into a fewer number of larger entities has been the tax treatment involved. There are particular taxation rules that sort of do not favour private eq- uity ownership," he adds. If the government removes those impediments and a con- solidation does happen, "that is a huge opportunity for lawyers," ac- cording to Barrett. "Any time there's a consolida- tion activity, that's really a merg- ers and acquisition transaction and that requires legal advice," he says. LT Continued from page 1 hydro sale challenged Page 2 aPril 27, 2015 • Law Times NEWS

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