Linda's Position on Important Issues

Governance: Greater Transparency and Accountability

As a member of the Governance Task Force, I was a strong supporter of reforms to the composition of Convocation, including term limits and eliminating the role of Life Bencher. I hope this will foster renewal in our ranks. Further reforms are necessary to:

  • increase the role of non-Benchers on hearing panels;
  • improve the Bencher expense policy and disclose it to the profession;
  • disclose Bencher compensation to the profession.

Access to Justice

We must work to make a better system of access to justice. Legal Aid is chronically under-funded. The Civil Needs Study will identify many unrepresented groups in the civil justice system. It is time for the Law Society to take a leadership role, by partnering with Legal Aid Ontario, the Law Foundation of Ontario, Pro Bono Law Ontario and others to address the legal needs of Ontarians. If we don’t, four years from now little will have changed and the public will stop believing that our profession cares about the lack of affordability of legal services.

Discipline

The discipline process is one of the Law Society’s core functions. Much time and many resources are devoted to it. But for members who find themselves practising in a vacuum, and struggling with their practice and professional responsibilities, there are not enough ways to address the Law Society’s concerns quickly and affordably. We need to consider innovative approaches: access to duty counsel early in the investigative process, increased use of alternative dispute mechanisms, and more experienced lawyer-adjudicators from the profession to sit with benchers on discipline. 

Access to the Profession

There are not enough articling positions for those who seek them. We need to address this barrier to entry. Should we retain the present process or should we adopt an alternative licensing process? I still don’t know the answer to this difficult question but you have my commitment that I will ensure that we address it fairly and consult vigorously with the profession before being satisfied with any proposal.