Law Times

PAGE 4 NEWS December 8, 2008 • Law Times LSUC unanimously finalizes annual budget BY ROBERT TODD Law Times Upper Canada last month finalized its annual budget, a move that was delayed in October due to market turbulence. The 2009 budget, which was unani- mously approved by Convocation with no questions or comments from bench- ers, marks the first time an operating budget for paralegals was put forth at the same time as the lawyers' budget. Parale- gals — who don't use LibraryCo services and thereby avoid the $220 each lawyer will put toward it — will pay the law so- ciety $55 more in 2009, bringing their fee to $900. Paralegals' licensing process fee is unchanged at $1,075. The $50 increase for lawyers brings O their total fee to $1,703, while the stu- dent licensing process fees will be $2,400, $540 less than 2008. The licensing process fee reduction is due to the replacement of the four-week skills and professional responsibility pro- gram with a new set of requirements, said finance committee co-chairwoman Carol ntario lawyers will pay their professional regulator $50 more in 2009 after the Law Society of Hartman at November Convocation. New calls must now complete a five-day, pre-call pro- fessional responsibil- ity and practice session, along with 24 hours of professional develop- ment within the first 24 months of practice. The number of fee- paying lawyers will in- crease by 800 to about 33,600, while 300 more fee-paying para- legals will bring that total to approximate- ly 2,400, the budget summary states. "The challenges ad- presented to Convoca- tion by Hartman. Of note on the law dressed in the budgets include pressures relat- ing to continuing mort- gage fraud caseload, programs approved by Convocation in prior years for imple- mentation or expansion in 2009, the current employment market within To- ronto, and the uncertain economic cli- mate confronting practitioners as well as the society," states the budget summary 'We remain committed to main- taining and, in some cases, enhancing our core programs,' said Derry Millar. society's revenue side, the Errors and Omis- sions Insurance Fund investment surplus is expected to decrease by $1.75 million to $2 million in 2009, large- ly due to the ongoing global economic down- turn, states the budget summary. In terms of expenses, a $2.6-million increase to around $18.9 mil- lion is planned for pro- fessional regulation, ac- cording to the budget summary. That increase reflects a higher number of complaints, elevated costs related to mortgage fraud, and add- ed expenses for outside counsel on com- plex matters, states the summary. Other areas of note include $590,000 for the new lawyer parental leave pro- gram, $320,000 more for the spot-au- dit program, $290,000 for additional practice-management reviews, and $120,000 for a project studying the legal needs of low- and middle-income earners. The budget also makes way for a three-per-cent increase, to a total of $1.3 million, for employee compensation. That increase is a reaction to "the move- ment of pay scales in the external mar- ketplace," states the budget summary. "We remain committed to maintain- ing and, in some cases, enhancing our core programs to ensure that we continue to govern effectively and efficiently in the public interest," said law society Treasurer Derry Millar in a release. At October Convocation, Hartman told benchers the finance committee had to revisit its budget assumptions due to "the global market fluctuations and its uncertainty." At that time Hartman suggested a pos- sible postponement or reduction in pro- gram spending, but any severe cuts seem to have been dodged. The finance co-chairwoman at that time said the law society's "strong finan- cial position," including a balance of $36 million in various accounts, would cushion the institution from the current economic challenges. LT Firms see benefits in programs for women BY DARYL-LYNN CARLSON For Law Times practice. In fact, a Law Society of Upper Canada survey released last spring found the majority of law firms with fewer than 25 lawyers in Ontario still don't have formal maternity-leave programs. Yet, there is a growing awareness that leadership programs tailored for women can empower a law firm and help build its client base, I t's long been a struggle for many law firms to accom- modate women in private especially as women graduating from law school account for almost 50 per cent of new practitioners launching careers. "One of the things that I've observed is it has just seemed like it's a bad news story for women graduating law school," says Anne Ristic, assistant managing partner at Stikeman Elliott LLP in Toron- to, of the perceived challenges for women lawyers and particularly those in private practice. "But I think we've made tre- mendous progress during the time that I've been in practice." While Stikemans provides men- toring and skills development for all of its lawyers, it has also introduced initiatives specific to women. Most are educational, focusing on ways to build business, deliver effective presentations, and project manage- ment. It has also lent its unyielding support to senior partner Alison Youngman of its corporate com- mercial group, who is also the cur- rent president of the International Women's Forum in Canada. The IWF is an invitation- network only of women with key leadership roles within their organizations and provides a Lead- ership Foundation Fellows Program for 28 women participants from around the world aspiring to ascend the corporate ladder. "Stikemans has been amazing at supporting me and the time com- mitment" it takes to oversee the IWF as president, says Youngman. The firm is also an active mem- ber of the LSUC's Justica Proj- ect, a three-year pilot project that launched last month and is de- signed to foster the retention and advancement of women lawyers within private practice. Laurie Pawlitza, a family law litigator at Torkin Manes Cohen Arbus LLP in Toronto, is co-chair- woman of the Justica Project and enthuses there are nearly 50 firms involved in the initiative. 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Prices subject to change without notice, and to applicable taxes. www.lawtimesnews.com have so much interest is firms rec- ognize this is important and it's an easier task to do this when they're involved with other firms," says Pawlitza. "Not a lot of firms have really strong ongoing programs and it is time now to do something that is more organized." She attributes the oversight simply to the busy nature of work- ing in private practice. "The prac- tice of law is a really consuming exercise. Lawyers get so busy do- ing what they do although it's not just the client calling who needs the attention, but that's who's al- ways going to come first." The Justica Project will culmi- nate with recommendations for law firms to enhance the working environment for women and foster leadership and business savvy. At Blakes Cassels & Graydon LLP, partner Dawn Jetten over- sees the co-ordination of women's networking events that cater to the firm's lawyers and to clients. Her role ensures all of the firm's offices across Canada can share their women's networking events nationally and learn what lawyers and clients are looking for in terms of educational functions. One event that was a particular success that hosted both lawyers and clients was a "Wine and Shoe Pairing" social event which, while light hearted in its focus, provided a great opportunity to network. Of the 590 total lawyers at Blakes across Canada, 208 are women, not including law students. Yet the firm has a good record of involvement in women's leadership programs; it is one of the found- ing sponsors of The Judy Project, a leadership forum for women execu- tives at the University of Toronto's Joseph L. Rotman School of Man- agement, named for Judy Elder, an influential business leader who died in 2002. It also partners with the Rotman school and U of T to pro- vide additional leadership training to its senior women associates. "Women are different. They have different interests and differ- ent time pressures," acknowledges Jetten. "A lot of clients are women now" so gender-specific events can be beneficial, she says. Signe Leisk, a partner at Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP's Munici- pal, Planning and Environmental Group serves also as chairwoman of the firm's Women's Networking Group (WNG). The group hosts events sever- al times per year both internally for the firm's female lawyers and for clients. "We have a couple of goals which are to foster networking and provide a mentoring role for younger lawyers," says Leisk. Pro- grams in-house are largely edu- cational, while the firm recently hosted a social tea networking function that included clients. "These events are important in particular in a mentoring role," says Leisk. They offer a venue that's easy to interact with fellow attendees and enables par- ticipants to network effectively in a relatively tight time frame. "We found that it's been valuable because the [number] of women who are in manage- ment in business are greater and there are more corporate coun- sel who are women," says Leisk. "Hosting an event in some sort of unique venue to network has been appealing to everyone." LT

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• Stays On Bench
• Second Opinion
• Focus On ADR/Mediation