Law Times

Page 4 July 21, 2014 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com that appeals to the client." The wealth-management package frequently contains a portfolio that includes a will planning kit and a simple guide to estate planning. Financial in- stitutions can also provide man- agement services that include advising family executors, man- aging property sales, and coun- selling beneficiaries on investing their bequests. "'Disintermedia- tion' is taking place," says Kelly. "In plain English, it means that lawyers are either pushed out of contemporary estate planning or marginalized. The bank, by positioning itself as point of first call, becomes the primary service provider and major fee earner." This "bigger picture," says Kelly, is what lawyers aren't con- fronting. Susannah Roth of Toron- to's O'Sullivan Estate Law- yers PC agrees that law school curriculums should expand to enable prospective members of the estates bar to deal with to- day's realities. "It would be very beneficial if law school taught some soft skills and offered business or accounting courses," says Roth, a past chairwoman of the Ontario Bar Association's trusts and estates section. Still, she maintains that law- yers remain at the forefront of estate planning. "Our practice includes very involved estate planning where we take over the client's whole situation or inte- grated planning with help from wealth managers and accoun- tants," she say s. However, Vincent De Ange- lis, current chairman of the OBA section, concedes that "to some degree" the major financial in- stitutions are marginalizing the profession. "But that's not just happening in trusts and estates," he says. "It's also happening in other areas like real estate." De Angelis, then, admits Kelly's approach has some merit. "Kelly is right about the fact that lawyers have to retool and take a holistic, multidisciplinary, and multi-professional approach in which they are the quarter- backs," says De Angelis. "You can't just focus on the nuts and bolts and you absolute- ly have to address planning. But succession law is very complex and law schools need to focus on its multidisciplinary aspects." Law schools, he says, should consider MBA programs in wealth management. Indeed, law students are among those enrolled at the wealth-manage- ment course offered by York University's Schulich School of Business. The difficulty, De Angelis says, is that the demand for profession- al advice comes down to money. "Most people don't appreciate the importance of having a proper will, which far outweighs the cost of preparing it," he says. "So they go to the lawyers who are offering wills for $99 at Walmart stores." De Angelis worries that the trend to alternative business structures, an issue now under consideration by the Law Society of Upper Canada, could lead to the commoditization of legal ser- vices as a whole. "That's unaccept- able because, unlike other profes- sions, we're fiduciaries and attract solicitor-client privilege, two key concepts on which ABS will in- fringe," says De Angelis. The key to halting the slide, he suggests, is for lawyers to educate the public on the importance of proper wills and estates planning. "But that's not something you can learn in law school," he says. "That's the responsibility of the profession as a whole because the lawyers who are interested in providing proactive advice don't have the resources or knowledge to market like the financial in- stitutions do." De Angelis, who makes it clear he's speaking only on his own behalf, notes organizations like the OBA are taking steps to get the message out with pro- grams around making a will and powers of attorney. "Educating the public with these types of programs will make it more likely that lawyers are the first point of contact for clients," he says. LT year. "It's been a journey but nowhere near the sacrifice these individuals have made. So it's worthwhile," he says. Shea found out about the students' families, hometowns, where they went to school, when they enlisted, how they died, and even bits about their personal lives. In one case, he found a letter Capt. Gerald Blake, the great grandchild of the founder of the law firm now known as Blake Cassels & Gray- don LLP, wrote to his fiancée Katherine on June 19, 1915. "I felt wretched leaving you looking so wretched and so we're pretty wretched all around," wrote Blake. "But someday if I h adn't gone we all would have been ashamed. I would have been a grouch for the rest of my days — and now perhaps I will be only half the time!" There's also Lieut. Roy Biggar, whose father practised law in Hamilton, Ont., as a partner at the Biggar & Lee law firm. Some, like Capt. Stanley Brocklebank, received the Military Cross, and their medals and why they received them will be part of the collection of biographies printed in a book for the November posthumous call ceremony. The students came from various places in Ontario and had diverse family and economic backgrounds, says Shea. "There is no single thing that you can say each of these individuals had in common except for the fact that they were all students here at Osgoode." The November event will be the first time the law so- ciety will honour a group of law students posthumously. "When it comes to the ultimate sacrifice that our mem- bers gave, it's important that we remember them and that we recognize that their contributions were significant for our country and for our history," says Conway. "It's not to celebrate war," he adds. "It's rather to remember what the cost of war truly is." LT NEWS Alternative Legal Career with Practical Law Carswell, a omson Reuters Business, is looking for several talented individuals to join the Practical Law Canada team. Practical Law provides "know how" content to law fi rms and law departments across a range of subject areas. One of the keys to Practical Law is an in-house team of experienced lawyers with excellent writing skills to draft content and help shape the service. We are looking for several lawyers (8+ years) and (4+ years) to join the Practical Law team in the following areas: • Commercial • Commercial Litigation • Banking/Financial Services • Employment If you're interested in joining our dynamic team and working for an organization that has received 18 Top/Best Employer awards over the past 11 years, please apply by clicking the link below and then select the job title you are interested in http://carswell.com/corporate/careers/. We're looking forward to meeting you. ThomsonReuters-HR_LT_July21_14.indd 1 14-07-16 2:30 PM Law students' war sacrifices remembered Continued from page 1 Estates lawyer leery of alternative business structures LIEUT. GEORGE LAWRENCE BISSET MACKENZIE (Jan. 4, 1892-June 7, 1916) MacKenzie's father, George A. MacKenzie, was a lawyer also known for his poetry. After his son's death, the senior MacKenzie penned the poem My Baby Sleeps . CAPT. GERALD EDWARD BLAKE (May 28, 1892-July 23, 1916) Blake was the grandson of Edward Blake, a former Ontario premier and founder of the law firm now known as Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP. LIEUT. BRYCE THOMAS DAVIDSON (Jan. 29, 1893-July 2, 1918) An only child, Davidson had in fact graduated from law school in 1916. He was an articling student at Blake Lash Anglin and Cassels in Toronto. CADET ALEXANDER "DAVID" SWAYZE (April 3, 1895-Oct. 6, 1917) Swayze was the brother of another law student, Lieut. William Swayze, who died after returning to Canada after being a prisoner of war. Their father, also named William Swayze, was a judge in Ontario. Source: Draft of the upcoming book They Grow Not Old by Patrick Shea. The law society is displaying a First World War exhibit in the Great Library at Osgoode Hall. Photo: Yamri Taddese A look at some of the law students never called to the bar Continued from page 1

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