Law Times

May 30, 2016

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Page 2 May 30, 2016 • Law TiMes www.lawtimesnews.com is not looking to burden smaller firms with overregulation. "This isn't regulation for reg- ulation's sake. The goal is practi- cal solutions," he says. "There is no desire to overreg- ulate. The desire is to raise stan- dards and to do it in the way that's the least burdensome while at the same time achieves the goals." Earnshaw says compliance- based regulation would be f lex- ible to give firms the freedom to adapt the principles in a way that is suitable to their size. "The principles that were identified in the report would apply to all lawyers and para- legals across the board, but the application of those principles might look different if you were a solo practitioner than if you were with a large firm," he says. The task force's report also rec- ommended having a designated practitioner serve as a liaison be- tween each firm and the LSUC. Temelini's firm has only two partners and an administrative assistant. If one of them is kept busy carrying out the role of designated practitioner, Temeli- ni says he is worried that person might not have time for client services. "The difficulty is if the bur- den of the compliance function becomes too great that that per- son is doing that all the time," Temelini says. Task force members say these are all details that will be worked out in the coming months with consultations. The lack of detail in the re- port made some members of the Federation of Ontario Law Asso- ciations uneasy, says the group's executive director, Michael Ras. "It is a little bit presumptive of the law society to say that they're moving forward before the bar has been able to say one way or another we support it, but I guess that's their right," he says. Ras says FOLA appreciates that the LSUC is looking at entity regulation, but that the organi- zation's members, who are pre- dominantly small firms and solo practitioners, need to see more detail before they can formulate a definitive position on it. "Some of our members do have some concerns. Some are open to it, but the consistent po- sition from just about everyone is we need to see more details," he says. The LSUC set up its task force to figure out how to set up a framework to implement entity regulation in June 2015. It released a consultation paper in January and requested input from legal professionals about entity regulation. The LSUC re- ceived 97 responses from indi- viduals and legal organizations. Earnshaw says most feedback was generally supportive of the concepts and ideas that are in the report but that there were also many concerns about how the potential regulations might be applied to smaller firms and sole practitioners. The task force is set to orga- nize an additional round of con- sultations in multiple regions, which will be organized by prac- tice size or type. This next round of consultations will be more focused on specifics so that the regulations can be f leshed out, Earnshaw says. "The first consultation was from 50,000 feet," he says. "So we now want to come forward with some options that have some details attached to them," he adds. LT to his sentencing because his criminal of- fending began around the same time that he found out he was adopted and learned about his heritage. "When he finally discovered his heritage and became aware of the culture which he had long ago lost, it is not surprising that he fell into a profound identity crisis," Harris says. "This crisis coincided with the time his criminal offending began." At the heart of the sentencing court pro- ceedings was a debate about whether the principles of R. v. Gladue applied to Kreko's case. The Supreme Court decision deter- mined that judges must consider an aborig- inal offender's background when sentencing him or her. "In sentencing an aboriginal offender, judges must consider: (a) the unique sys- temic or background factors which may have played a part in bringing the particular aboriginal offender before the courts," the decision said. "And (b) the types of senten- cing procedures and sanctions which may be appropriate in the circumstances for the offender because of his or her particular ab- original heritage connection." In the reasons for his sentence, Stone said Kreko's "aboriginal connection had been ir- relevant to his offences, or how he got there." The Court of Appeal, however, found Stone had erred in his conclusion that Kreko's aboriginal heritage was irrelevant to his sentencing. "The appellant's dislocation and loss of identity can be traced to systemic disadvan- tage and impoverishment extending back to his great-grandparents," Justice Gladys Par- du wrote in the decision. "This was relevant to his moral blame- worthiness for the offences." Pardu added that Kreko's heritage was "unquestionably part of the context under- lying the offences." Pardu also cited R. v. Ipeelee, 2012, a Supreme Court decision that held aborig- inal offenders should not have to establish a causal link between their heritage and the crimes they committed. "The effect of intergenerational discrimi- nation is profound, but it requires an ap- preciation of both the long, horrific history of aboriginal maltreatment and the some- times-distant details of an accused's back- ground," Harris says. LT NEWS Continued from page 1 Continued from page 1 Background should be recognized: ruling Task force chair says 'goal is practical solutions' 6th Annual Social Media Law Navigate the Legal Landmines of Social Media Susan Vogt, Daniel Cole & Eric Macramalla Partners of Gowling WLG Toronto & Webinar June 7 REGISTER ONLINE www.lexpert.ca/cpdcentre For more information, please contact Lexpert® at 1-877-298-5868 or e-mail: lexpert.questions@thomsonreuters.com 4th Annual Canadian Construction Insurance Law Keeping Pace in the Evolving World of Canadian Construction Bruce Reynolds & Sharon Vogel Partners of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP Toronto & Webinar June 2 NWT Safety Regulations The Legal Road to Workplace Safety Glenn Tait, Partner, McLennan Ross LLP Yellowknife & Webinar June 9 Duties of Good Faith Are your Contractual Relationships Balanced with Honesty? Eli Lederman, Partner, Lenczner Slaght Toronto & Webinar June 9 The Rise Of Finance Technology in Canada FinTech, A Radical New Paradigm in Canadian Finance Nicolas Faucher & Kareen Zimmer Partners of Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP Toronto & Webinar June 9 EXECUTIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FULLY ACCREDITED IN-CLASS PROGRAMS & LIVE WEBINARS Untitled-9 1 2016-05-25 4:32 PM

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