Law Times

Page 4 December 14, 2015 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com Benchers prepare to tackle tough issues BY NEIL ETIENNE Law Times ccess to justice, bet- ter communication with members and the public, and gover- nance topped the agenda as the Law Society of Upper Canada's priority planning committee presented its comprehensive 2015-19 strategic plan to Con- vocation last week. e plan details five key pri- orities for the current bencher term, which runs through 2019. e priorities are to establish the LSUC as a leader in profes- sional legal regulation, increase its organizational effectiveness, better engage stakeholders and the public, prioritize lifelong competence for lawyers and paralegals, and enhance access to justice in the province. e planning committee, chaired by LSUC Treasurer Janet Minor, hosted a strategic plan- ning session with the benchers over two days in mid-October to cra the document. Now ap- proved, the plan will kick into action in the New Year and there will be periodic reviews of the priorities to ensure their objec- tives are being met throughout the term. "It is a robust and ambitious plan that reflects the priori- ties of the new bench as well as the evolving legal landscape," explained bencher and prior- ity planning committee member Carol Hartman in presenting the document to Convocation Dec. 4. According to the plan, bench- ers identified establishing the law society as a leading professional regulator and enhancing its regu- latory effectiveness as its main priority. e plan identifies the need to consider how to address issues of licensee capacity "that arise in the context of a conduct application before the Law Soci- ety Tribunal, including the pos- sibility of instituting the authority to convert a conduct application to a capacity application." Hartman said there will be a review of regulatory procedures to look at areas of potential im- provement with an emphasis on mental health initiatives. "We will also consider the de- velopment of a regulatory tool to assist in identifying indicators of particular risk in practice and the supports and resources that may proactively mitigate against these," Hartman said. e plans identify the need to consider enhancing entry-level standards for lawyers and para- legals to ensure the legal profes- sionals are competent "as they enter an increasingly challeng- ing professional environment," she said. "As the licensing platform evolves, we will also continue with our commitment to explore the expansion of the paralegal ar- eas of practice." Hartman said to address access to justice issues for the province, "we will focus on de- veloping a more refined access to justice action plan" in collabora- tion with justice partners and stakeholders and with a particu- lar focus on family law access. Another goal is to increase the LSUC's public presence with more effective use of new com- munication technologies. "We will review our existing practices and consult broadly to build a comprehensive commu- nications infrastructure including how to bring key messages and improve how the law society com- municates on time-sensitive or burgeoning issues," Hartman said. "Ultimately, this work will result in a proposal for a multi-year com- munications plan, which identi- fies resources and measures for evaluating effectiveness." To address organizational ef- fectiveness, Hartman said there will be a focus on expanding re- cords, analysis, and reviews of the LSUC policy process and gover- nance structure. "We will review our policy development process guided by our duty to protect the public interest and undertake a com- prehensive review of the law society's governance structure with the aim of achieving greater transparency, inclusiveness, cost effectiveness, and efficiency of Convocation as a governing board," Hartman said. Under the plan to address governance, benchers will be asked to identify their non-adju- dicative education needs in rela- tion to their role in the society and develop a professional de- velopment plan to address those needs. Part of this project will also include a diversity assess- ment and review of the compo- sition of Convocation. Hartman said the key to the LSUC objectives will be working closely with its membership and the senior managers to set appro- priate benchmarks and timelines with consistent monitoring of ef- fectiveness and efficiency. "ese are just highlights of the tasks we have set for our- selves for 2016 and beyond," Hartman said. "While many of the activities continue or build on our on-going work, it is nev- ertheless a very ambitious plan; we definitely have our work cut out for us, but I trust that we are all eager to move forward." Minor explained that each of the committees responsible for enacting elements of the strate- gic plan will be getting clearer details, such as timelines and potential costs, for their plans shortly aer the new year. LSUC CEO Rob Lapper also addressed the strategic plan with Convocation, saying that with its approval, it is now set to move into the individual committees to start implementation. "We are certainly working through to support the strategies developed; any further decisions taken by Convocation to either increase the timeliness of com- pletion or to redirect the scope of an initiative resulting in fur- ther expenditures will be sup- ported by appropriate impact statements and reports vetted by the finance committee and then Convocation for final decisions on funding," he explained. LT NEWS A 'It is a robust and ambitious plan that reflects the priorities of the new bench as well as the evolving legal landscape,' says Carol Hartman. This is more than a phone book. It is your instant connection to Canada's legal network. 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