Law Times

Law Times • OcTOber 18, 2010 NEWS PAGE 5 Government added 45 JP positions since 2003 Continued from page 1 Randell's area in Toronto, al- though he says he needs at least two more justices of the peace. The others went to Ottawa, Newmarket, Hamilton, Wind- sor, and London. "People are quick to say that hiring judges and [justices of the peace] is expensive, but it's also necessary in terms of allow- ing people access to the courts," Randell says. Still, Ministry of the Attor- ney General spokesman Bren- dan Crawley touted the latest appointments in an e-mailed statement in which he said the government has increased the number of full-time justice of Generational change at play Continued from page 1 more public law, were very appealing to me," Lisus says. "The firm is really open to these ideas and to the idea of expansion." While Lax O'Sullivan, founded in 1997, has re- mained relatively small, Lisus says the firm is ame- nable to adapting to the type of work it will attract in the future. "I haven't developed a sense of Lax O'Sullivan's surge capacity. We'll expand, I imagine, if we develop the type of litigation that needs a lot of bodies, that needs e-discovery capacity and extensive document man- agement, and that features litigation against the big firms." The basic demographics of the profession, Lisus says, are Jonathan Lisus driving a cyclical generational transition. "You basically saw a cycle in the '90s when Lenczner Slaght emerged in 1992; Lax O'Sullivan came along in 1997; and Paliare Roland was es- tablished soon after the turn of the century," he notes. "Now the demographics have the top guys in their 60s and 70s and the next band of leaders starting to emerge." Also driving the cycle is the trend to youthfulness in the business community. "The profession and the litigation bar are at a turning point," Lisus says. "Nowadays, buyers of legal services at banks and corporations are in their 40s, and the profession is taking a new look at bringing younger people up the hierarchy." At McCarthys, Lisus notes, chairman and CEO Marc-An- dré Blanchard of Montreal is just 45, as is Paul Boniferro, the firm's Toronto-based national leader of practices and people. Lenczner Slaght Royce Smith Griffin LLP's Alan Lenc- zner, who spearheaded the litigation boutique phenomenon when he and four other top litigators at McCarthys left to form their own firm in 1992, isn't surprised at Lisus' move. "The firms are getting bigger; litigation departments are get- ting bigger; and conflicts are more problematic than ever," he says. "When you put that together with the fact that just about everyone has a drive for change in mid-career, you're going to get movement, even among the top people. But I don't think it will be anything resembling a stampede because a lot of people gravitate to other things, like fast cars and fast women. For my part, I couldn't afford the cars, and the women wouldn't look at me." Lisus believes change will affect not only the big firms but the larger boutiques as well. "As the boutiques grow, they'll have to regenerate and re- configure," he says. Still, he acknowledges that the move from a national firm will have its challenges. "The adjustment from aircraft carrier to torpedo boat is a big one," he says. LT the peace positions to 345 from 300 since 2003. "We are com- mitted to ensuring that Ontar- io courts hearing criminal and Provincial Offences Act matters have adequate resources to op- erate efficiently and effectively," he said. In Cochrane, Ont., the town's chief administrative of- ficer echoes the concern about preparing for retirements. Jean- Pierre Ouellette says his area is short two justices of the peace, which has been jamming up court schedules. "There is also overall concern that with coming retirements and, as it may take two years to train a [justice of the peace], there may be a lack of succes- sion planning," he says. Eight hours south in the Township of the North Shore, Mayor Heather Pelky says her area suffers from a chronic lack of access to justices of the peace. There were no provincial of- fences court sittings at all in July or August, for example. Pelky, who also sits on the local police board, says Ontario Provincial Police officers have to make a four-hour round trip to Sault Ste. Marie to see justices of the peace and file paperwork with them because they so rarely sit in the courts in Blind River, Thessalon, and Elliot Lake that are much closer to home. "That's taking away officers who should be here and on the road protecting our area," she says. According to Desrosiers, the shortages manifest themselves most often in provincial of- fences court due to the other functions justices of the peace perform. They preside over criminal intake and bail courts, which receive higher priority than provincial offence charges under statutes such as the High- way Traffic Act. The 2007 amendments also allowed retired justices of the peace to sit on a per diem ba- sis in areas where they were needed. In Sault Ste. Marie, courts have been able to func- tion only with their help. But as Desrosiers has found, Sault Ste. Marie isn't a preferred des- tination for many people once winter rolls around when can- cellations and backlogs spike. "They're retired. They're un- der no obligation to work and a lot of them like to travel in the winter and go south, so you lose the per diems," he says. According to Randell, the government has leaned too heavily on the per diem justices. "You can't rely on a retired workforce to fill in for full-time vacancies," he says. Still, he hopes amendments to the law tabled earlier this month at Queen's Park will make the appointments pro- cess more efficient. If passed, bill 110, the proposed good government act, would amend the Justices of the Peace Act to allow the attorney general to advertise positions as they be- come vacant. "This would allow for vacancies to be posted more frequently than once a year," Randell tells Law Times. "That should help." LT ANNOUNCEMENT Untitled-3 1www.lawtimesnews.com 10/8/10 1:32:07 PM

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