Review of Michael Trebilcock, Paradoxes of Professional Regulation: In Search of Regulatory Principles. Canadian Business Law Journal, Vol. 67, page 247.
Draft Online: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4640225
Category: Legal Services Regulation
Systemic Racism, Clients, and the Law Societies
Slaw.ca, December 2023
Systemic racism is a reality in Canada. At many junctures in life, a person’s access to opportunities and fair treatment will be affected by their race, skin colour, or indigineity. The legal profession, in order to do its essential work in our society, must recognize and confront systemic racism.
So far, most formal efforts to do so have focused on racism’s effect on lawyers, law students, and others who work in the law. (See for example the action plans from the law societies of BC and Ontario, as well as Alberta’s “My Experience” project). These are worthy and very important efforts. But something might be missing: attention to the effects of systemic racism on actual and would-be clients.
Continue reading “Systemic Racism, Clients, and the Law Societies”Adjudicative Tribunals: In Need of Friends in High Places
Slaw.ca Legal Access to Justice Column, April 19 2023.
Found online at: https://www.slaw.ca/2023/04/19/adjudicative-tribunals-in-need-of-friends-in-high-places/
Each year, over 100,000 Ontarians seek justice from Tribunals Ontario. This group of people —the size of a small city— includes tenants, landlords, motor vehicle accident victims seeking insurance benefits, people denied disability benefits, and those who believe that their fundamental human rights have been infringed. This group of 100,000 is significantly larger than the number of plaintiffs who start civil lawsuits in the Superior Court of Justice each year. The numbers are similar in other provinces. For most civil rights, tribunals are Canadians’ first and only opportunity to seek authoritative dispute-resolution and enforcement.
Continue reading “Adjudicative Tribunals: In Need of Friends in High Places”A Charter Right to Advise – Even Without a License?
Slaw.ca Access to Justice Column, February 2 2023
Found online at: https://www.slaw.ca/2023/02/02/a-charter-right-to-advise-even-without-a-license/
A new American case, Upsolve v. James, suggests that freedom of expression might protect the right of non-lawyers to offer legal advice.
In both Canada and the USA, lawyers have a near-monopoly on legal advice. If anyone tells someone else how the law would apply to their circumstances, the first person is probably deemed to be “practicing law.” That is something that only lawyers are allowed to do.
Continue reading “A Charter Right to Advise – Even Without a License?”On a Slow Train to Nowhere: Paralegal Family Law Practice in Ontario
Slaw.ca Legal Ethics Column, August 11, 2022
Found online at: https://www.slaw.ca/2022/08/11/on-a-slow-train-to-nowhere-paralegal-family-law-practice-in-ontario/
Every year, tens of thousands of Ontarians go through divorce or separation. Should these people have access to family law services provided by non-lawyers? What if these service-providers were paralegals trained in family law, insured, and regulated by the Law Society of Ontario?
Continue reading “On a Slow Train to Nowhere: Paralegal Family Law Practice in Ontario”