Law Times

PAGE 2 NEWS November 9, 2009 • Law Times fter years of debate, the profession is set to weigh in on mandato- ry continuing legal education LSUC debates sending lawyers back to class A BY HELEN BURNETT- NICHOLS For Law Times for Ontario lawyers. As part of the discussions, a Law Society of Upper Canada committee report recommending 12 hours of annual professional development for lawyers and paralegals is about to go out to the profession for a 2½-month ARE YOU READY FOR THE FLU SEASON? With the recent H1N1 pandemic and fl u season approaching, be proactive and prevent the spread of infectious diseases in your offi ce. Prices in effect until November 30th 3.41EA. was $5.69 Lysol Disinfecting Wipes, 35/Dispenser 46146-00 5.65EA. was $7.20 Purell Hand Sanitizer Wipes, 100/Box 38256-00 Acme Comfort Masks, 5/Package 46105-00 6.41PK. was $10.68 4.65EA. was $6.17 5.81BX. was $9.68 Disinfectant Telephone Wipes, 25/Box 41890-00 100% Purell Hand Sanitizer, 354ml 46015-00 Purell Hand Sanitizer, 236ml 38257-00 6.05EA. was $7.86 For more information please contact your Account Executive or contact us at 1-888-393-3874 dyedurhambasics.ca J60261 DD Nov09 Flu Ad 1 10/27/09 10:03:14 AM Kleenex Facial Tissue, 100/Box, 2ply 38046-00 1.20BX. was $1.50 , 2009 consultation. Th e report, from Convocation's professional devel- opment and competence com- mittee along with the paralegal standing committee, includes a recommendation for three hours of education in ethics, profession- alism or practice management. Th e committees note that although the majority of law- yers reported taking some continuing le- gal education in last year's member's an- nual report, 18 per cent said they had not done any, some- thing the report says is "simply unaccept- able for a profession that pro- vides services to the public." "Th e issue is, I think, not so much whether we do this, but how we do it," Bencher Laurie Pawlitza, chairwoman of the pro- fessional development commit- tee, told Convocation recently. Th e committee suggests that activities eligible for the require- ment include legal organization or association programs; govern- ment, corporate, and private law fi rm in-house programs; law so- ciety continuing legal education programs; and participation in a study group with two or more participants. Mentoring in mat- ters related to substantive law, practice management, profes- sionalism, ethics, and skills devel- opment will also be eligible for a maximum of six hours. Online or distance self-study courses are also set to be included as long as they have a formal as- sessment, as will teaching law- related content and writing law- related books and articles. If the proposed requirement gets approval, it will apply only to lawyers in the 100-per-cent fee category. "Given the breadth of what is allowed, we think it's going to be fairly easy for every- one to be able to satisfy these re- quirements," said Pawlitza. Lee Akazaki At the moment, certifi ed specialists are the only ones who have to take 12 hours of legal educa- tion annually. But starting in 2011, newly called lawyers will also have to take 24 hours of profes- sional development in the fi rst two years they are in a particular practice category. Provinces such as Que- bec and British Columbia have approved or introduced such re- quirements for lawyers, as have 45 American states. Th e law society last debated the issue of mandatory ongoing training in 1996. At the time, technological delivery methods for continuing legal education were in their early development, and there was no minimum ex- pectation for lawyers to report their activities in the member's annual report. Since 2002, they've had to disclose how much profes- sional development they take. Th e latest proposal would re- quire lawyers and paralegals to report their educational hours each year through an online por- tal based on an honour system. Practitioners will face adminis- trative suspension after several phone calls, letters, and e-mails if they don't comply. Lee Akazaki, vice president Bankruptcy in Canada Fourth Edition The most authoritative statement of the law since 1922 of the Ontario Bar Association, says the OBA will be setting up a working group to discuss the rec- ommendations in the report. Th e challenge for many of the organization's members outside the major centres is access to pro- gram content in order to meet the requirement, he says. Similarly, Randall Bocock, chairman of the County & Dis- trict Law Presidents' Association, says the organization will be ex- amining the proposal at its ple- nary meeting this week. CDLPA, he notes, will want assurances that the proposal con- tains adequate provisions for the aff ordability, accessibility, and Substantially revised and rewritten by two leading practitioners, this fourth edition is of benefit to civil and common law practitioners. It offers a concise, comprehensive description of bankruptcy in general, and the distinctive features of the Canadian system in particular. 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Prices subject to change without notice, to applicable taxes and shipping & handling. www.lawtimesnews.com Honsberger_Bankruptcy in Canada (LT 1-3x4).indd 1 11/4/09 9:33:03 AM LT1109 availability of mandatory profes- sional development programs. "If it also adequately provides for the accreditation of local law association programs which have been ongoing for years in various counties around Ontario, then it's quite likely that the require- ment not only will be fairly [and] reasonably satisfi ed by each prac- titioner but that it already is, in fact, achieved by most people in the practice of law." But Bencher Gary Gottlieb told Convocation that although there has been a "sea change" in the last 15 years in terms of webcasts and tele-seminars of education programs, there are many people in the profession for whom aff ordability is an issue. He suggested that serious con- sideration be given to raising the income threshold for the continu- ing legal education bursary. Cur- rently, lawyers must earn less than $35,000 per year to be eligible. Lawyers and paralegals across the province will have until Jan. 15 to provide written feedback on the recommendations. LT John D. H onsberger, Q.C. and Vern W . DaRe Bankruptcy and Insolvency General Rules Payment of Debts Regulations Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, Orderly

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• Mandatory Education
• Good Science?
• Focus On Family Law