Law Times - Newsmakers

2015 top news, newsmakers, and cases 5 top newsmakers LAWYER JOE GROIA has been in the news for several years for his battles with the Law Society of Upper Canada, but this year he made headlines when he joined the regulator's governing body. Groia, a securities lawyer, was among those elected to Con- vocation in April's bencher elections. Groia, of course, has been battling the regulator for years over its efforts to discipline him for his actions several years ago in defending client John Felderhof during proceedings involving the Ontario Securities Commission. Both he and the law society have faced off at several hearings and in court. Despite his loss at the Divisional Court last year, Groia has vowed to continue his fight against findings of professional misconduct at the Ontario Court of Appeal. Nevertheless, Groia tells Law Times he's happy with his recep- tion at the law society despite the litigation. "I was worried that maybe I would be on the committee that looked after the pho- tocopiers," says Groia, noting his case against the law society will go forward this month. And despite his outspokenness, Groia says he hasn't been very vocal at the law society so far. "You really should spend the first six months listening and learning about the way the place works," he says. His workload — on top of his regular job — involves reading a couple of hundred pages of law society material per week with up to five days per month spent working on law society issues. While he notes it's still too early to discuss specific issues he'll bring to light over the next four years at Convocation, Groia says he has already noticed that "we could be a more efficient and effective regulator." His ongoing case against the regulator, he suggests, has led him to conclude that it misallocates its resources by spending too much in some areas and too little in others. Among the key issues benchers will consider, he says, will be entity regulation. "It's a matter of when we do that, not if we do that," he says. Groia, of course, is among 40 lawyers who won seats at Con- vocation in April's election. With several incumbents not able to run due to term limits, he's among many new faces on the law society's governing body. Many of them, lawyers point out, also represent a more diverse face at Convocation. "I think it is by far the most diverse group of benchers the law society has ever seen," says Groia. "What I expect you will see over the next couple of years is a much different tone and a much different approach being taken by the law society." Also among the newly elected benchers is Dianne Corbiere, a past president of the Indigenous Bar Association. The list also included Brampton, Ont., sole practitioner Raj Sharda and Anne Vespry, an Ottawa family lawyer. Incumbents Avvy Yao-Yao Go, Raj Anand, Jack Braithwaite, and Julian Falconer also returned to Convocation. In total, lawyers elected 16 women. They include first-time benchers Sandra Nishikawa, Janis Criger, Teresa Donnelly, and Gina Papageorgiou. Besides diversity, another key issue that arose in the elec- tion was campaign spending and the need for limits to level the playing field among the candidates. For his part, Groia says he spent up to $8,000 on his campaign but he suggests his victory probably had to do with other factors. "In many ways, I see my election to be a direct result of the case that I am fighting with the law society," he says. It's a case that has cost him a lot of time and money. Groia estimates that after accounting for legal fees and time spent on the matter, he has spent more than $1 million to date. And he won't recoup much of that as a bencher given the remuneration of $580 per day of work, an amount that doesn't kick in until members have put in 26 days. "The biggest financial sacrifice you make, of course, is the number of hours that you invest in law society work," says Groia. "I like to tell my family 'Now, I have a day job and a night job,'" he says. LSUC adversary wins seat at Convocation Joe Groia says he's happy with reception so far BY ANASTASIYA JOGAL 'I was worried that maybe I would be on the committee that looked after the photocopiers,' says Joe Groia.

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