Law Times

LAW TIMES COVERING ONTARIO'S LEGAL SCENE | MARCH 18, 2019 13 www.lawtimesnews.com BY CAROLYN GRUSKE For Law Times S ome lawyers running to be benchers say licensing is an issue that should be at the top of the agenda for the new Convocation, even though others say the December 2018 Convocation already addressed the issue of how to best license lawyers. Last fall, the professional development and competence committee of the Law Society of Ontario finalized a report called "Options for Lawyer Licensing," which examined four separate ways that graduates from law school could earn the right to practise in Ontario. Still, despite the movement on the issue, some prospective benchers feel that the issue is far from resolved. "Just because the formal dia- logue about licensing is finished doesn't mean that the discussion is finished," says Yavar Hameed, who practises human rights law out of his Ottawa-based firm, Hameed Law. Hameed, who is running in his second election in an attempt to become a bencher at the Law Society of Ontario, says he wants more emphasis put on standardized substantive training and experiential learn- ing standards for law school students and recent graduates working to pass the bar. "From my experience and from the lawyers and licensees who I've spoken to, I think that the recommendations [adopted from the report] have not gone far enough," he says. The report examined four different approaches the Law Society of Ontario could take to ensure recent law school gradu- ates developed their competency as lawyers. One option was to continue the articling, LSO Law Practice Program and bar exam programs as they exist with no changes. The second option was to enhance and update the ex- isting process, specifically with changes to articling. The third option was to turn to a strict- ly examination-based system. The fourth option was to make all potential new lawyers go through an LPP-style program. The report examined a num- ber of factors, including costs, and determined that the second option (to proceed with an en- hanced articling, LPP and bar exam program) and third op- tion (to move to an examina- tion-based system) were the best out of the four choices. However, Convocation members made the final decision on the direc- tion the law society would take. Benchers chose to implement the second option, which the report described as the "current model with enhancements." The changes will be brought in start- ing on May 1, 2021. Hameed, however, says choos- ing and implementing the second option doesn't go far enough. He cites the lack of any standardized check to see what principals are teaching their students and the lack of required practice manage- ment training as problems with the existing articling system. "I think we need to be respon- sive to the practice, generally, and we need to be forward look- ing. We shouldn't be gravitating toward a path of least resistance or something that is a relatively easy, quick fix," says Hameed. Bencher Tanya Walker, of Walker Law PC in Toronto, is running for her second term and says junior lawyers need better training and support. In her candidate profile for the Law Times bencher web- site, she says the "most pressing concern" in her region, Toronto, is "the disconnect between the rising number of licensees each year and the availability of jobs for junior lawyers." She says young lawyers in small or sole practices need more support from the law society in order to gain competence. "The law society exists to pro- tect the interests of the public. And part of the protection of the interests of the public is to assist with lawyers and training so they can better serve the public," she says. Walker says many junior law- yers end up opening their own practices and this is a challenge, even for those who received top-notch training as they com- pleted their articles. If the firm where they did their articling doesn't have a training program in place to ensure new lawyers learn how to manage clients and cases, it makes it even harder for those who want to run their own businesses, she says. "I opened my own firm in my fourth year and I still needed extensive mentorship, because commercial litigation is just so complicated. It's good to have that training in place to mini- mize the risk of them not serv- ing [their clients] properly and having a [LawPro] claim issued against them," she says. Craig Carter, counsel at Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, acknowledges that there was considerable work put into the report by the professional development and competence committee, but he says there is still the opportunity for Convo- cation to make improvements in the way it handles young calls and new licensees. "Maybe we need more cours- es to help teach those who are going out into sole practices or small practices about how all the rules work about trust funds and all the technological stuff they're going to have to face," he says. "Maybe the law society needs to spend more time helping law- yers starting their practice to be successful. Competency is not just academic competency. It is not just practice; it is running a law firm competently." John Callaghan, a partner in Gowling WLG's Toronto of- fice, has served for eight years as a bencher and is running again. He says that while he's proud of the work done on articling and the LPP and licensing — topics he calls "perennial issues"— he believes there still need to be improvements to the entire post-secondary education system. Callaghan says the amount of time and the expense it takes to go through the entire post- secondary education process is onerous to people who want to become lawyers. He also says that requiring first undergradu- ate studies and then law school and then spending time in the LPP program or as an articling student is expecting too much of students' time. "Seven, eight years — that's a long time in post-secondary [education]. You can be an en- gineer in five and go build a bridge," he says. "What we're talking about is access to justice . . . and that's complicated because it's not our jurisdiction necessarily. The universities have their own views [on legal education time- lines]. The government has its views on it. I've said this at Con- vocation, but it hasn't really been picked up just yet. We'll see if [the entire post-secondary edu- cation timeline problem] gets picked up next term." As chairman of the profes- sional development and compe- tence committee, Peter Wardle, counsel at Singleton Urquhart Reynolds Vogel LLP and a bench- er since 2011, admits the law soci- ety's licensing process is under a lot of pressure. With significant increases in foreign-trained law- yers and a shortage of articling positions, the process of licens- ing a cohort of approximately 2,000 lawyers each year is a dif- ficult one, he says. Getting one of the report's recommendations accepted means the law society can begin to improve the way the licensing process works, even if there are still some details to iron out, says Wardle. "We're still thinking about whether we should have some kind of a skills examination, which would be part of the exist- ing licensing examination pro- cess or possibly having a skills assessment that would be done by the articling principal, and the benchers haven't made a decision on that issue as yet. So that's all up in the air," says Wardle, who is standing for re-election. "We have a coach and ad- visor network that we've rolled out over the last couple of years, and I think that could certainly be enhanced. I think we need to be doing more in terms of giving new calls support in the first few years of practice. That's something we've kicked around in connection with the licensing discussions — providing sup- port to people in the first few years of practice, particularly those who are going out into either sole practice or into small firms," he says. LT BENCHER PROFILES JULIA SHIN DOI ELECT CANDIDATE FOR BENCHER I want to ensure that you have the support as well as the independence to manage and grow your practice. • Voice for Corporate & Broader Public Sector • Diverse & Inclusive • Proven Community Builder • Advocate for Skills & Support • Experience for the Future • Governance Expertise www.juliashindoi.com I would appreciate your vote. Thank you Issue is far from resolved Bencher candidates weigh in on licensing challenges Tanya Walker says junior lawyers need better training and support.

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