Law Times

Page 12 November 2, 2015 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com Real estate lawyers happy with uptick in solicitor benchers BY YAMRI TADDESE Law Times olicitor representation on the Law Society of Upper Canada's govern- ing table has increased after several members of the real estate bar were successful in the recent bencher elections, according to the County & Dis- trict Law Presidents' Associa- tion. Six solicitors now sit at Con- vocation, up from four before the election, says CDLPA execu- tive director Michael Ras. Cur- rent benchers who are either exclusively solicitors or those whose work is significantly on the solicitor side are Jerry Udell, Sidney Troister, Susan Richer, Jeffery Lem, Robert Evans, and Raj Sharda. "They're all known not only as champions of the real estate bar but as real experts in the field," says Ras. "They know their stuff, so we've just been thrilled with [their] input." The change follows an effort this year to elect more solicitors. "There's a voice at the table of Convocation that understands the particular problems facing the solicitor bar and, in particu- lar, the real estate bar," says Ras. "For the effort that we put in trying to encourage more solici- tors to vote, I think, anecdotally, that worked. We think more so- licitors did vote in more parts of Ontario." Almost 50 per cent of the benchers are new to Convoca- tion, something that signals a general change of attitude and more openness to listen to solicitor voices, says Udell, a Windsor, Ont.-based real estate lawyer. "There's a willingness to be open to comments and ideas from the solicitor bar and I must tell you I'm very pleased. To the credit of not only Convocation but also the treasurer, they want to understand the issues that face solicitors and they're willing to consider alterna- tives to try to offer solutions to those issues." One of those issues, says Ras, is what the real estate bar sees as a gap in the education of new lawyers coming out of law school. "What we've heard anecdotally and some research that's been done . . . is that the particular intricacies of real estate transactions are not taught in law school," says Ras. "The basic principles are taught in law school, but the actual how to do a real estate transaction is not, and unless you're lucky enough to get that experience in an article or in [the Law Practice] Program, you're not really going to under- stand that." CDLPA has in the past com- plained of the issue in a report. "At most law schools, property law has ceased to receive the attention that it deserves. At many, it is no longer a mandato- ry course. Graduates are leaving law schools without an adequate foundation in this area. This shortcoming is no longer being overcome by training at the Bar Admission Course level and, in many instances, articling stu- dents receive little or no train- ing in this area," CDLPA said in a discussion paper written two years ago. "Yet, many young practitio- ners, with little or no substantive education in this area, begin to practise real estate. It is wrongly perceived as an area of practice where computer programs and the Teraview electronic reg- istration system will do most of the heavy lifting. In reality, however, there is a lot more to practising real estate com- petently than filling in forms and registering documents." The issue is also a concern for former bencher and real estate lawyer Alan Silver- stein. He says the expertise of his generation is, by and large, "not being replenished." "A lot of the younger law- yers don't have the knowl- edge or the expertise to deal with some of the issues. I get phone calls from younger lawyers all the time about real estate questions and I guess it's an unofficial type of mentoring because a lot of them just don't have the background or the mentor- ing to answer some of the questions," says Silverstein. "Sometimes, I find it's very basic questions that they should know about but they don't," he adds. "As we get older, all that ex- perience is going to be lost and there's going to be a lot of people out there who just don't have the same level of expertise." To be fair, Silverstein notes the same thing could have ap- plied to him 30 years ago. "I was young and inexperi- enced, but for some reason, the real estate bar does not seem to be replenishing as much as it once did." The law society has no con- trol over what law schools teach, says Udell. "We recognize that and we have to deal with the system that we get," he adds, noting the law society is open to looking at all alternatives in order to en- sure solicitors have the knowl- edge and expertise to serve the public. Also a priority for the real estate bar is improving com- munication skills, says Ras, not- ing statistics show that "a good portion" of complaints against real estate lawyers and LawPRO claims result from poor com- munication skills on the part of solicitors. "We're looking to improve that in any way we can," says Ras. LT FOCUS REGISTER ONLINE www.lexpert.ca/cpdcentre EXECUTIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FULL DAY IN-CLASS PROGRAMS & LIVE WEBINARS E V E N T S For more information, please contact Lexpert® Events at 1-877-298-5868 or e-mail: register@lexpert.ca 3RD ANNUAL CONDUCTING EFFECTIVE WORKPLACE INVESTIGATIONS: JUST THE FACTS Toronto | November 10 7TH ANNUAL DEALING WITH THE LEASE: WHAT'S NEXT? 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Presented by Carswell Media,a Thomson Reuters business Untitled-1 1 2015-10-15 12:47 PM REACH ONE OF THE LARGEST LEGAL AND BUSINESS MARKETS IN CANADA! AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IN PRINT 8JUINPSFUIBOQBHFWJFXTBOEVOJRVF WJTJUPSTNPOUIMZDBOBEJBOMBXMJTUDPNDBQUVSFTZPVSNBSLFU FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT Colleen Austin T: 416.649.9327 | E: colleen.austin@thomsonreuters.com www.canadianlawlist.com Get noticed by the lawyers, judges, corporate counsel, finance professionals and other blue chip cilents and prospects who find the contacts they need for Canadian legal expertise at canadianlawlist.com with an annual Gold or Silver Enhanced listing package. ENCHANCE YOUR LISTING TODAY! Untitled-2 1 2015-10-28 8:14 AM S 'I was young and inexperienced, but for some rea- son, the real estate bar does not seem to be replen- ishing as much as it once did,' says Alan Silverstein.

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