Law Times

Page 2 February 12, 2018 • Law Times www.lawtimesnews.com impacting law students — the articling crisis, the LPP program and skyrocketing tuition," she says. "These are issues that are going to affect them in years to come. I think it's only right they have a voice and have a say." LSO Treasurer Paul Schabas says he forwarded the associa- tion's letter to the law society's governance task force, which is expected to release a report to Convocation this month. Schabas says the letter raises important issues and cites ideas the task force is looking at in terms of what the representation at Convocation should be from various parts of the profession. He says creating bencher po- sitions for students and new law- yers will depend on what kind of governance structure the task force comes up with. Schabas has voiced support for a smaller board and acknowledges that there will likely be a tension be- tween making sure all voices are heard at Convocation and the view that there are too many benchers as it is. "There are a lot of competing issues around having a gover- nance structure that's efficient and effective and yet still having the diversity of voices that we need," he says. The LSSO's letter said that students' views have largely been ignored even after having been engaged in consultations with the law society on a number of issues. Schabas, however, says the law society does constant out- reach with law schools, students and their deans. He says he has been going out to law schools over the last few months to talk about licensing issues and conveyed what he heard to the committee that is reviewing the issue. The law society recently re- leased a survey that was part of its wider review of licensing that found 21 per cent of recent or current articling students had experienced some kind of un- welcome comment or conduct based on a personal characteris- tic, such as gender, race or sexual orientation. Supporters of creating stu- dent benchers say it would be especially important for the law society to adopt such a position now, as the regulator is set to consider changes to the licens- ing process. The LSSO's president, Deep- ak Iyer, says there is a whole slew of issues the group wants to have more of a say in that concern students, including the future of articling and the cost of licens- ing fees and bar examinations. "If you're not able to listen to us as students, give us a voting opinion so that we have more representation and a stronger representation that's more au- thenticated," he says. The law society's professional development and competence committee is also expected to release a report this month that will suggest possible reforms to the licensing process. Since the committee shelved a plan to end the controversial Law Practice Program in 2016, it has engaged in consultations about what the future of articling and the broader licensing process should be. It is not clear yet what the committee will come up with, but some options that have been discussed include making the Law Practice Program the only pathway to licensing, ending transitional training as a limited requirement and even a United States-style bar examination. LT Continued from page 1 LSO considering governance changes ada (Commissioner of Com- petition), 2018 FC 64, Chief Justice of the Federal Court Paul Crampton stated that he didn't want third parties such as Kobo using the court's power of judi- cial review to defeat Parliament's clear intention to create a limited right of review of consent agree- ments. "The HarperCollins agree- ment was conditional on the other three becoming effective," says Iatrou. "They would all be- come effective or none of them would become effective, and the result of this ruling is that they will now all become effective." Jayme Albert, spokesman for the Competition Bureau, said the Federal Court's decision "clarifies the scope of third party challenges to settlements with the Commissioner." "In the decision, Chief Justice Crampton found that judicial review applications brought by third parties in respect of con- sent agreements filed with the tribunal should only be heard in 'exceptional cases,'" he said. Iatrou says that result is simi- lar to what the tribunal found last year, and he admits that af- ter the HarperCollins motion wasn't successful, he knew that the Federal Court case would be an "uphill battle." Huy Do, partner with Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP in Toronto, who was not involved in the case, says that the juris- dictional discussion was not that hotly debated before the deci- sion. "Now it's clear, but I don't think that it was something that was that controversial," says Do. "It essentially tells us what we already thought was the case in terms of the application of the Act." Jean-Marc Leclerc, a part- ner at Sotos LLP whose practice involves litigating price-fixing cases, notes that the decision put an end to Kobo's attempt to fore- stall having to offer its custom- ers lower prices for almost four years. "I think it's significant that Kobo got a stay of the consent orders pending the court's de- termination of the issues," says Leclerc. He says in the decision that Crampton completed the analysis of the underlying issues beyond the jurisdictional argu- ment in the interests of "judicial economy." "At the end of the day, these agreements are intended to pro- vide customers with lower pric- es," says Leclerc. LT Result similar to prior tribunal finding Continued from page 1 NEWS Celebrate Excellence at the 11 th Annual Canadian Dealmakers Awards Gala C-Suite executives, deal teams and advisors come together to recognize Winners who have impacted their industries by strategically positioning companies for innovation, growth, globalization and diversification. Join us for an unforgettable evening on March 8, 2018, at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, Toronto. 5:30 pm | Cocktail Reception 7:00 pm | Gala Dinner & Awards Presentation 9:30 pm | After Party Hosted by: Amber Kanwar; Financial Journalist, BNN To purchase a table, please contact us at MediaSolutions.Sales@thomsonreuters.com or call 416-649-8841. 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