Law Times

Law Times • augusT 7, 2017 Page 13 www.lawtimesnews.com PERSONAL INJURY a focus on protecting privilege and ensuring licensees retain control of matters. CSO registration could also be revoked if the situation changed, the report suggests, calling it "an innovative, pro- portionate regulatory option." "When concerns were raised, our response was to provide more time. When lawyers have a chance to ref lect, I think they will con- clude that it's a good thing," Mercer says. "To the extent that the re- sponses identify circumstances where the proposals may not make sense, I think that's le- gitimate, but I don't think one should, as a result of that, say there isn't any way to open up the provision of legal services." Charles Gluckstein, chair- man of the OTLA's own ABS committee and a partner at To- ronto firm Gluckstein Personal Injury Lawyers, says the group has yet to finalize its position on the motion. "On the face of it, the idea of allowing these charitable and non-profit organizations to ap- ply for some kind of licence is not very offensive, but the devil is in the details," he says. Gluckstein says U.K.-based Aspire Law LLP, another of the examples mentioned in the LSUC materials, raises some red f lags for him. The ABS provider, a joint venture between a personal in- jury law firm and a spinal cord injury charity, funnels half of the firm's profits back into the charity to provide housing and support for its clients. "It doesn't read as very phil- anthropic, and I'm not sure the charity does its members any fa- vours by directing them to this one firm instead of giving them a choice of representation," Gluckstein says. He adds that spinal cord in- jury victims are not typically under-served by lawyers in On- tario. Mercer says he welcomes the chance to hear feedback on the proposals and adds that his group's investigation of fran- chise models and minority ownership by non-licensees is ongoing with further reports to follow. But Cameron fears even con- fining non-lawyer investments to minority levels will not be enough to prevent ABS from commoditizing legal services in a damaging way. "A 49-per-cent stake is still pretty significant," he says. "Capital is going to f low to wherever money can be made, and the lawyers taking the in- vestments are going to be more concerned with the bottom line than with their clients." Cameron says the idea that a full embrace of ABS would improve access to justice is a "scam." "It's more likely to do the con- verse, because when you have to think about how a case looks to your investors, you have less in- centive to take marginal or pro bono ones," he says. Goldfinger says Ontario law- yers should heed warnings from other jurisdictions that have ex- perienced ABS in action, where personal injury law has proved a popular target for new busi- nesses. "You don't see many criminal or landlord-tenant ABS firms. They're going to be out for personal injury law firms, which I see as a real risk for innocent accident victims," he says. "If the company's not turn- ing a profit, then the leadership turns over. All they care about is the bottom line and what the shares are doing." He says that Australia- headquartered Slater and Gor- don, the poster child of ABS as the first publicly traded law firm in the world, proves his point. The firm's senior manage- ment was recently forced out by an American hedge fund after its share price collapsed follow- ing an ill-fated acquisition. "If the law society really is concerned about the public and their ability to have their cases advanced, the ABS model doesn't do it," Goldfinger says. The report to Convocation in June indicates there may be other hurdles facing the intro- duction of ABS in Ontario, ac- cording to participants in by- invitation focus groups. "While seeing considerable advantage in allowing [civil so- ciety organization] clients to re- ceive legal services together with other CSO services, the meeting participants noted that liing regulatory limitations would not necessary result in the de- livery of legal services by CSOs because of the need for funding," it said. "However, meeting partici- pants nevertheless encouraged the Law Society to address regulatory limitations to enable delivery of legal services where possible." It also says "Meeting partici- pants raised a range of concerns and risks, but also suggested that they can be addressed, and should not be treated as 'show stoppers.'" LT Continued from page 12 Alternative Business Structures back on agenda at LSUC CANADA & USA 1.800.265.8381 | EMAIL info@mckellar.com | www.mckellar.com The reason why we are Canada's largest and most comprehensive structured settlement firm has everything to do with our passion for service and performance — without exaggeration, we make life easier for you. Almost as fast as McKellar. Light travels at a speed of approximately 186,282.397 miles per second. Untitled-1 1 2017-07-27 2:18 PM Nobody has a problem with the Red Cross having a law firm. Brian Cameron Charles Gluckstein says 'the idea of allow- ing these charitable and non-profit organi- zations to apply for some kind of licence [to offer legal services] is not very offensive, but the devil is in the details.'

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