Law Times

PAGE 2 NEWS March 5, 2012 • Law TiMes BY KENDYL SEBESTA Law Times tees' salaries at par with lay adjudicators for the first time. The law society approved the pay T increase during Convocation proceed- ings on Feb. 23, hiking it to $565 a day from $177 a day. For three hours or less of work, the pay will now be $340, up from $88.50 previously. Lay benchers will also see a spike in their travel and food stipend to equal that of lay adjudicators' remuneration. The move represents the first time lay benchers' pay has been on par with lay adjudicators. Several benchers said the decision was a positive one during Convocation. "In terms of compensation, there can be no justification for the public members to be given less financial ben- efit than the appointed lay adjudicators," he Law Society of Upper Can- ada has approved a $388 in- crease to lay benchers' pay that will put the provincial appoin- said Catherine Strosberg, a lay bencher. "This disparity cannot and should not exist and should vanish quickly, like my youth. We are the last remaining self- governing profession in the world. You want the best of the best in the role of ap- pointed benchers and this matter is sim- ply an issue of equal work for equal pay." Bencher Susan McGrath expressed similar views during Convocation, say- ing the hike was "long overdue." Lay benchers, she noted, "are the voice of reason on many occasions when we are trying to determine what we should do with respect to a situation that is before us," said McGrath. "Frankly, they have been impov- erished over all these years by the fact that the government provides an in- adequate amount of compensation to them and certainly nothing compa- rable to what lay adjudicators receive." It's the provincial government that appoints and pays lay benchers, while the law society appoints and pays lay adjudicators. The increase to lay bench- ers' pay takes effect immediately. LT Attitudes to articling vary by region, task force finds BY KENDYL SEBESTA Law Times of lawyers and law firms to scrap the way Ontario approaches articling altogether. The update came A during the law society's Convocation proceed- ings on Feb. 23. It showed strong opposition to scrapping the current arti- cling approach in regional centres outside the Greater Toronto Area, London, and Windsor, Ont. The task force also found these other towns and cities are the ones most acutely experiencing a greying of the bar. "For example, we heard in Sudbury that there are currently seven articling positions avail- able today, whereas a generation ago there were over 14 such positions," said task force chairman Tom Conway. "So it's difficult for me personally to under- stand how a continuation of the status quo will help alleviate the challenge of rejuvenating the profession in these centres if the status quo is reserved. But nevertheless, we must acknowl- The task force has found a strong commit- ment to the current system in some areas of the province, says Tom Conway. n update from the Law Society of Upper Canada's articling task force shows several regional dis- crepancies in the willingness edge there is a very strong commitment to the current articling system in those areas of the province that we have visited to date." But Bencher Daniel Murphy had an expla- nation for the regional differences. "You men- tion you need 10 lawyers to support a law stu- dent," said Murphy, who practises in Goderich, Ont. "Well, we have six lawyers and we had a law student last year. She is now our sixth lawyer." But finding candidates isn't always easy, he noted. "And three years ago, we advertised for an articling student, got one reply, interviewed, and decided he didn't want to come to Goderich. Four years ago, we advertised for an arti- cling student, didn't get a single reply." According to the task force, cities like Sudbury, Ont., often had more positions open compared to places like London and were therefore less will- ing to change the articling system. Where fewer posi- tions were available, law- yers and law firms were more favourable towards change. The task force, which has been holding consultations on options for responding to the shortage of articling positions in recent months, will present its final recommenda- tions to Convocation in May. LT Now Accepting Applications for Classes Starting in September 2012 Part-time, Executive LLM program for corporate counsel and practising lawyers Information Sessions Tuesday, March 6, 2012, 5:30 - 7:00 pm Friday, March 9, 2012, 8:00 - 9:30 am Wednesday, December 7, 2011 5:30 - 7:00 pm Friday, December 9, 2011 8:00 - 9:30 am U of T Faculty of Law, Faculty Lounge 78 Queen's Park, Toronto No registration required. Please feel free to drop in anytime during these hours. Taught by U of T Faculty of Law professors, together with top international faculty from INSEAD Business School, NYU School of Law, and Rotman School of Management. For more information and to apply: http://www.law.utoronto.ca/programs/GPLLM.html Supported by the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) - Ontario Chapter and in partnership with Carswell, a Thomson Reuters business. GLLM_LT_Mar5_12.indd 1 www.lawtimesnews.com 12-02-28 4:16 PM Tuesday, April 10, 2012, 5:30 - 7:00 pm Thursday, April 12, 2012, 8:00 - 9:30 am Lay benchers get pay boost

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