Law Times

Law Times • May 6, 2013 Page 3 NEWS Envisioning Equal Justice summit Access to justice advocates call for radical changes BY JEAN SORENSEN For Law Times VANCOUVER — Delivery models for legal services must change dramatically if the profession is going to be able to meet the future needs of Canada's low- and middle-income classes, according to panellists at a session at the Envisioning Equal Justice summit put on by the Canadian Bar Association's B.C. branch in late April. Panellist Allan Fineblit, chief executive officer of the Law Society of Manitoba, called for a radical altering of the delivery of legal services in Canada. Lawyers, he noted, continue to own law firms despite a growing international trend towards allowing others to invest in them. "Lawyers are not known to be innovative and entrepreneurial," he said, noting they don't have access to large amounts of capital in order to expand their businesses. He pointed to two models that have worked effectively in Britain. The Co-operative Group Ltd., for example, launched Co-operative Legal Services Ltd. in 2006 as an alternative business model that included fixed fees for legal services. It has 48 outlets across Britain with aggressive expansion plans that include hiring 3,000 lawyers from 2012-17. "The idea is to offer low-cost legal services in a way that is accessible, fundamental, and affordable," said Fineblit. The other British model he pointed to was Saga Legal Solutions, an organization that targets older consumers by charging fixed fees for writing wills and other age-related legal services. It also provides ease of access with online legal documents that seniors can download. Not only does ownership need to change, Fineblit said, but there's also a need to provide more information on the cost of legal services. "If someone wants to get a divorce, what is it going to cost?" he asked. There should be more opportunities to follow the fixed-fee system that's emerging in Britain, he added. Fineblit also cited mobility as a barrier to delivering effective legal services as there's an oversupply of lawyers in some parts of Canada while other areas go begging for practitioners. There must also be change in the design and delivery of legal aid programs that have been the target of cuts across Canada, said panellist Karen Hudson, executive director of the Nova Scotia Legal Aid Commission. Society, she argued, needs to realize the value of having a robust legal aid system in place. She pointed to several aspects of the legal aid system that need to change. First, there's a need for research in Canada to parallel U.S. efforts showing how $1 spent on legal aid has resulted in downstream justice system savings ranging from $2.25 to $7.42. Financial eligibility "is the elephant in the room," she said, citing the need to reflect the realities of middle-income Canadians. In some provinces, "if you work at Tim Hortons, you don't qualify for legal aid," she said. Advocacy needs to change from a single-issue approach to more comprehensive legal representation. "Coverage is another issue. There are too many things that are not on the menu," she said. Generally, she argued, "We need to look at the client holistically." While legal staff may help with legal problems, they may actually flow from other personal issues. Panellist Ab Currie, senior research fellow at the Canadian Forum on Civil Justice, agreed that the system needs to look beyond court solutions. "We can't understand the legal problems that exist by looking at lawyers and the courts," he said. Rather, the legal problems that appear are often part of a cluster of issues a person is dealing with. A fair justice system, in his view, is one that not only provides legal services through the courts but also extends "upstream" into a person's daily life. Sarah McCoubrey, executive director of the Ontario Justice Education Network, said the key to resolving the broader issues in a person's life is to ensure all Canadians have some legal knowledge and the skills to access a resolution when a problem that might turn into a legal matter appears. "They need the skills to navigate problems," she said. "There are legal components to all aspects of our lives," said McCoubrey, who gave the example of renewing her apartment lease with a modification while a neighbour who was unaware of the ability to change the agreement is now struggling with the conditions. McCoubrey would like to see more legal education in schools to develop an "attitude of legal capability" that goes beyond simply believing the system will treat people fairly if trouble arises. Such a change would help people understand their rights, recognize issues verses legal problems, and be aware of the services that exist to help reach a resolution. McCoubrey said judges and lawyers have a more immediate role to play by educating clients as well. "There are legal advocacy skills we could be sharing," she said. Panellist Richard Zora of the Self-Represented Litigation Network in Washington said the courts are going through a "thousand-year change." They're transitioning from traditional dispute resolution institutions with judges playing a detached role, he noted, to bodies with a greater focus on providing access to justice as more self-represented litigants go to court and receive help from the judge. At one time, he said, judges who engaged with a self-represented litigant could arouse suspicions of bias. That's no longer the perception, according to Zora, who said judges are finding they can fully engage with self-represented litigants while remaining neutral by taking care in explaining their actions as the case moves forward. "We see a huge shift with how judges deal with cases," he said. 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