Category: Legal Services Regulation

A Charter Right to Advise – Even Without a License?

Noel Semple

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.

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On a Slow Train to Nowhere: Paralegal Family Law Practice in Ontario

Noel Semple

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?

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Online and In-Person Hearings: The Best of Both Worlds

Noel Semple

Slaw.ca Civil Procedure Column, June 9, 2022

Found online at: https://www.slaw.ca/2022/06/09/online-and-in-person-hearings-the-best-of-both-worlds/

For a while during the pandemic, online hearings were the only option for courts and tribunals. Justice was done on Zoom, or else it wasn’t done at all.

Now, as we emerge from the age of Covid (knock on wood!), online vs. in-person is a recurring controversy across Ontario’s justice sector. After the Superior Court of Justice ordered most contested family law matters to return to court, a group of family bar lawyers organized in defence of the online option. By contrast, the Landlord and Tenant Board is insisting on fully online practice, while the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario states that “going digital has been a failure” and calls for a return to in-person hearings. The online vs in-person controversy is also litigated on a case-by-case basis. For many civil trials, in the absence of party consent an expensive procedural motion may be necessary to resolve the question of online vs. in-person.

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Justice Delayed and Denied in Ontario’s Tribunals

Noel Semple

Slaw.ca Access to Justice Column, February 16, 2021

Found online at: https://www.slaw.ca/2021/02/16/justice-delayed-and-denied-in-ontarios-tribunals/

Widespread distrust of government helped Donald Trump bring the United States to its knees. Only 17% of Americans trusted the federal government to do the right thing most of the time in 2019, down from over 70% in the 1960s. People who lack any confidence in government tend to be receptive to anti-government populist messages.

The best way to preserve public trust in government is to ensure, as much as possible, that government acts in a trustworthy way. What does this have to do with Ontario’s administrative tribunals?

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