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www.lawtimesnews.com Page 6 February 11/18, 2008 / Law Times The day is short, the task is great... It is not up to you to complete the work, Yet you are not free to desist from it… - Ethics of the Fathers, 2:20-21 T his is my fourth bencher term, and it is only natu- ral to wonder whether the years devoted to the task have been worthwhile. I remem- ber the talk I had with the out- going treasurer on the first day I spent at Osgoode Hall. After asking me what I hoped to ac- complish and receiving my re- ply, he looked me squarely in the face and said, "Gary, take it from me. It's a hopeless task." "Maybe uphill, but not hopeless," I thought to myself. I also thought too many days at Osgoode Hall had turned him into a cynic. I never had any illusions about making radical changes, no matter how welcome those changes would be to lawyers in the trenches, for changing the status quo is not an easy task. As I observed in the first bencher's diary I ever wrote (Law Times, June 5 – June 11, 1995), "My greatest fear is that progress . . . will be incremental rather that substantial." In many areas, that has proved to be the case. Our profession is regulated more than ever, the rules of profes- sional conduct and the com- mentary to them grow ever thicker, and money continues to be poured into audits, inves- tigation, and discipline with no surcease in sight. Yet as I look back, some changes for the better have been made, and I like to think I played some small part in their achievement. I never relished completing the members annual report, even when it became electronic, and each year found a glitch, or two or three, which I dutifully reported. I even wrote a col- umn about it ("The formidable MAR: the mother of all Law Society forms," Law Times, Nov. 20, 2006). This year, wonder of wonders, I was able to complete it without a hitch and sent an e-letter to Terry Knott at the society with my congratulations. Many was the day I said, in opposing mandatory continuing legal education, that all we had to do was make CLE affordable, accessible, and relevant, and law- yers would come flocking. To a great extent that has happened. Law Society CLE programs are now outstanding and provide much more practical knowledge than they did years ago. As for accessibility, the society, through innovation, has made CLE more accessible than ever before. Not only do we have live programs in various venues, but we have the interactive learning network and teleseminars. And you can pur- chase CLE materials and watch or listen to program replays on the internet. Although LSUC CLE costs far less than what would be charged by a commercial pro- vider, and although lawyers with annual incomes below $35,000 can qualify for a 50 per cent reduction off the reg- ular price of most LSUC pro- grams and publications, I still regret that there is not one low annual fee for which lawyers would be able to attend or other- wise access as much LSUC CLE as they wish. Pressure from the Ontario Bar Association, which relies heavily on CLE revenue, is the biggest obstacle to having one low annual fee. At the very least, the current income thresh- old to qualify for a LSUC CLE programs and publications re- duction should be increased. There are also many prac- tice resources on the law soci- ety web site. There are a best practices self-assessment tool, various practice guides, practice management guidelines, and a knowledge tree that provides answers to the most commonly asked questions in practice man- agement areas. LSUC CLE and member re- sources are particularly helpful to sole practitioners and small law firms, as are the monthly e-bulletins the law society sends out, and the practice tips that ap- pear in each issue of the Ontario Reports. The society's Ontario Lawyers Gazette is informative and interesting. When I first became a bencher, sole practitioners and small law firms got little respect at Osgoode Hall. Now, espe- cially after the work of the Sole Practitioner and Small Firm Task Force, there is recogni- tion that we are integral to the provision of legal services to the ordinary public. So I can truthfully say that progress has been made over the last 13 years, but there is still much to be accomplished. To borrow a line from Robert Frost (Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening), "I have prom- ises to keep and miles to go be- fore I sleep." Gary Lloyd Gottlieb, a Toronto lawyer, is a Law Society of Upper Canada bencher and a Toronto sole practitioner. His e-mail address is glgqc@interlog.com 'Troubling' case needs explanation "Simply baseless and groundless." That's how Attorney General Chris Bentley reacted last week to suggestions the Crown deliberately fumbled the pros- ecution of six Toronto cops accused of corruption. The theory is they threw the case against the Central Field Command drug officers to dodge the ugly optics of a lengthy trial. Then what did happen? All we really know is that nearly 10 years after the investigation began, highly respected Superior Court Justice Ian Nordheimer stayed the charges, citing the "glacial" progress of the pros- ecution. He found the Crown violated the officers' right to be tried in a timely fashion due mainly to delays arising from staggering disclosure issues. But the public needs to know why the case tanked and millions of their dollars were flushed, say lawyers. The call was quickly taken up by Opposition parties pressing for an inquiry. Edward Sapiano, one of nine lawyers who wrote to internal affairs in 1999 after clients complained of alleged mistreat- ment by the officers, pulled no punches, alleging, "the upper echelons of the attor- ney general's office" sabotaged the case. "The last thing in the world they want is witness after witness taking the stand, testifying about how these things happened to them and about our courts, our judges, accepting uncritically the word of the officers," Sapiano told the Toronto Star. "There should be some sort of very intensive review of what was done at the prosecutor's level," Paul Copeland, a co-founder of the Law Union of Ontario also told the Star. "The ultimate result in the prosecution is totally unsatisfactory from everybody's point of view." "Clearly there is something wrong with a situation where you have charges being dropped due to administrative screw- ups or worse, and that nobody gets jus- tice," said Conservative leader John Tory. "We need to have an inquiry to get to the bottom of this." Meanwhile, it emerged RCMP Assis- tant Commissioner John Neily sounded warning bells as far back as 2003 to the director of the ministry's special prosecu- tions unit about problems with what he called Canada's largest police corruption scandal in history. But, while Bentley rejected the sug- gestion of intentional delay, he said he couldn't comment on the specifics of the case because it's still before the courts, revealing Crown lawyers are working "around the clock" to decide whether to appeal. He did, however, say several times in a scrum with reporters after speak- ing at the OBA Institute, the "result is a troubling issue." His boss, Premier Dalton McGuinty has also used the word "troubling," add- ing there is a possibility of an inquiry: "We're not ruling out a public inquiry . . . we're not ruling it in." He said he was waiting for Bentley's recommendation. Indeed, there should be an explana- tion to the public about what happened, either via an intensive review or inquiry. Anything less is, well, troubling. — Gretchen Drummie Editorial Obiter Editorial Obiter Bencher days: time well spent? COMMENT Law Times is printed on newsprint containing 25-30 per cent post-consumer recycled materials. Please recycle this newspaper. Publications Mail Agreement Number 40762529 • ISSN 0847-5083 Law Times is published 40 times a year by Law Times Inc. 240 Edward St., Aurora, Ont. L4G 3S9 905-841-6481. lawtimes@clbmedia.ca cIrcuLATIONS & SubScrIpTIONS $141.75 per year in canada (GST incl., GST reg. #r121351134) and uS$266.25 for foreign address- es. Single copies are $3.55 circulation inquiries, postal returns and address changes should include a copy of the mailing label(s) and should be sent to Law Times Inc. 240 Edward St., Aurora, Ont. 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Law Times Inc. disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or currency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reliance upon information in this publication. Bencher's Diary By Gary Lloyd Gottlieb LT *Pages 1-16.indd 6 7/18/08 12:45:26 PM

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