The Lawyers Weekly - November 12, 2010

Licensees must complete
one hour for each
calendar month

THOMAS CLARIDGE TORONTO

Benchers of the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC) have passed bylaw amendments that spell out new requirements for continuing professional development (CPD) that will go into effect next January.

Passed unanimously, the amendments to LSUC bylaw 6.1 are based on recommendations approved last February that will require both lawyers and paralegals in Ontario to take minimum amounts of CPD each year. The requirement will apply to all licensees paying full fees, as well as some who enjoy partial or full fee exemptions.

Drafted by LSUC’s Profes-
sional Development & Compe-
tence Committee, the bylaw
requires each licensee to com-
plete “one hour of eligible activ-
ities for each calendar month in
the year during which for any
amount of time the licensee
practises law in Ontario as a
barrister and solicitor or pro-
vides legal services in Ontario,
of the total of which hours at
least 25 percent shall consist of
eligible activities that are
accredited by the Society cover-
ing ethics, professionalism or
practice management topics.”
However, on application by a
licensee, the law society may in
any year “exempt the licensee
from the requirement…or
reduce the number of hours of
eligible activities that the licen-
see is required to complete.”
Subject to the same potential
exemption, new lawyers and
paralegals licensed after May 31
will have to complete 24 hours
of the eligible CPD activities
accredited by the Society cover-
ing ethics, professionalism or
practice management topics.”
The bylaw defines “eligible
activity” as “an activity that
serves to maintain or enhance a
licensee’s professional know-
ledge, skills, attitudes or ethics,
as determined by the Society.”
It requires all licensees to
report their CPD activities by
the end of each calendar year in
an electronic form that will be
supplied by LSUC. Although
the bylaw allows licensees to
seek an extension of the time
requirement, it also stipulates
that LSUC’s authority to require

“

The focus groups conducted a gap analysis of current programming; identified relevant professionalism program topics; recommended optimal program formats and times for practitioners; and approved a competency-based curriculum for each of the practice areas.

sional responsibility, ethics and
practice management (‘profes-
sionalism’) topics will be offered
to the membership free of
charge, 10 of those programs
will be repeated through the
year for a total of 40 free-of-
charge opportunities.”
The report said that to ensure
that the CPD programs meet the
professional development needs
of the members, the department’s
counsel “worked with focus
groups of paralegals and lawyers
from a variety of practice areas to
review and update the learning
objectives for the Essential, Inter-
mediate and Advanced levels of
practice that were originally
developed for the Certified Spe-
cialist Program. The focus groups
conducted a gap analysis of cur-
rent programming; identified
relevant professionalism pro-
gram topics; recommended opti-
mal program formats and times
for practitioners; and approved a
competency-based curriculum
for each of the practice areas.”
A new series of materials
called “Case Studies on Profes-
sionalism” will have a fictional-
ized description of an actual
professional responsibility,
practice management or ethical
decision that a member has
been required to make in his or
her career. “The cases will
enable members in a variety of
practice areas to put themselves
in the position of the decision
maker, analyze the situation
with reference to the Rules and
other legal principles, identify
alternatives, and formulate an
action plan for solving the
problem.”
Starting in January, the case
studies, along with guides for
facilitators and participants,
will be on the law society’s web-
site for members to download
at no charge and use as the
basis for one-hour CPD study
group discussion sessions with
other members.

As of Aug. 15, LSUC had accredited 22 new member programs and the professionalism content of four programs. The report said 10 law firms had obtained accreditation for their associate orientation programs. 

The Canadian Bar Association (CBA) has sounded the alarm on the lack of proper regulation for immigration consultants.

“The lack of enforcement in this area has led to a proliferation of incompetent and unethical consults with no accountability and no recourse for their victims,” says Chantal Arsenault, chair of the CBA’s national citizenship and immigration law section.

The preferred approach is one that allows only members of provincial and territorial law societies and the Chambre des Notaires du Québec to represent and advise immigrants, the CBA submitted to Parliament’s standing committee on citizenship and immigration for Bill C-35, Cracking Down on Crooked Consultants Act.

The bar association contends the Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants is an ineffective regulator that’s been “mired in allegations of financial mismanagement.”

Lots of licensed paralegals

within two years, with the same requirement that at least 25 per cent of the time involve “ eligible activities that are

CONTENTS

NEWS

THE SUPREME Court has clarified the ‘duty to consult’ .....................1

Cross-border Law CULTURAL SOVEREIGNTY and cross-border trade ..................... 14

NOT GRANTING power of attorney is the biggest lawyer error, says Ontario’s law society....................1

FOREIGN WORKER regulations reach beyond intended goals ..... 15

THE DETAILS of continuing education are hammered out in Ontario .........................................2

BUSINESS & CAREERS

WORKING WELL with your assistants .................................. 20

a licensee to provide the infor-
mation “is in addition to, and
does not limit, the Society’s
authority to require a licensee
to provide information con-
tained elsewhere in this By-
Law, in any other by-law or in
the Act.”
In a report to Convocation,
benchers were given details of
plans by LSUC’s Professional
Development and Competence
Department (PD&C) to deal
with the anticipated increase in
demand for CPD courses,
including the hiring of six more
staff positions.

“For 2011, PD&C is planning 130 programs, including approximately 20 programs which will be offered on two alternate dates in order to meet members’ needs for scheduling flexibility (repeats are included in total number). This represents a 70% increase in the number of programs offered and is expected to generate a revenue increase of $1.7 million over the previous year. Approximately 30 programs on profes-

With the number of Ontario paralegals licensed by the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC) already far above initial expectations, a lot more are engaged in the licensing process. At their October Convocation, LSUC benchers received a report showing that as of July 31, 2010, 1,033 applications for licensing had been received, an increase of 108 per cent from the same date in 2009, when by year’s end 500 had written the licensing exam. This year, 851 wrote the exam in the first two of three planned sessions. The report suggested the increase was largely due to the fact it was the final opportunity for graduates of the non-accredit-ed college paralegal programs to write the test. Since June 30, anyone who wants to apply for paralegal licensing must have graduated from an LSUC-accredited paralegal education program.

ALMOST HALF of new calls in Ontario are unemployed ............... 3

CHANGE TO delivery of legal services gradual......................... 21

Alberta reforms

ONTARIO’S LAW society pushes for paperless Bencher elections ... 3

HIGH-ACHIEVERS may feel like ‘imposters’ ................................. 22

PROMOTING ROLE of judges ...... 4

SHARE VALUATION can be a complicated art.......................... 23

FOCUS

Family Law B.C.’S PROPOSED guardianship concept raises red flags............... 9

We want to hear from you! Email us at: tlw@lexisnexis.ca 

REFORMING FAMILY justice: One judge for one family ..................... 9

DEPARTMENTS

INVOLVING CHILDREN in family law cases................................... 11

ALBERTA CALLS for Divorce Act reform on child support .............. 12

WHY EMPLOYERS need to accommodate employee’s childcare concerns ..................... 13

Announcements. . . . . . . . . . . 23

Careers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Classified Ads . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Lawddities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Legal Briefs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Letter to the Editors. . . . . . . . . 5

Names in the News. . . . . . . . . 4

Weekly Digest. . . . . . . . . . . . 16

RICHES, MCKENZIE & HERBERT LLP

PATENTS, TRADE MARKS, COPYRIGHT, LITIGATION BARRISTERS & SOLICITORS - PATENT & TRADE MARK AGENTS

PAUL HERBERT, B.SC., PHM., R.PH, LL.B., J.D., PH.D.

DAN HITCHCOCK, B.ENG. (ELEC. ENG.), LL.B.

JEFF PERVANAS, B.A.SC. (ENG. SCI.), LL.B.

BOBBY ATHWAL, B.A.SC. (MECH. ENG.), M.A.SC., LL.B., J.D.

BYRON THOM, B.A.SC. (ENG. SCI.), LL.B.

BRANT LATHAM, B.A.SC. B.SC. (CHEM. ENG.), LL.B.

GARY M. TRAVIS, B.SC. (GEOL.), LL.B.

MICHAEL ADAMS, B.ENG. (MECH. ENG.), B.SC., LL.B.

MICHAEL YUN, B.SC. (BIOCHEM), J.D.

TRADE MARK AGENT MARTA TANDORI CHENG

2 BLOOR ST. EAST, SUITE 1800

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The Alberta government is promising that its new Wills and Succession Act, the first comprehensive review in nearly 90 years, will make the settlement of estates easier and less expensive by providing clear and up-to-date rules and regulations.

And changes to the province’s family law statutes will make it easier to establish the parentage of children born through assisted human reproduction and improve the process for obtaining and enforcing support orders.

Bill 21 will repeal and replace several outdated statutes and proposed amendments will update rules for family support and matrimonial property distribution on death, among other things.