Canadian Lawyer

34 N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 8 w w w . c a n a d i a n l a w y e r m a g . c o m While Peters says critics lament a lack of "boom opportunities," the stability is "abso- lutely the strength of this region." Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta col- laborate in terms of legal profession regulation, with their respective law societies joined in many initiatives, including those focused on alternative legal service provision, entity regula- tion and access to justice. In Saskatchewan, the legal services task team was appointed in 2017. A joint initiative between Saskatch- ewan's justice ministry and law society created a list of recom- mendations, which included allowing the law society to allow certain non-lawyers to practise law "with a limited license on a case-by-case basis." It also recommended adjusting the Legal Profession Act to allow more flexibility for future developments of this type and expanding the list of exceptions to the prohibi- tion against practising law, for example in the case of a non- lawyer preparing documents to be used in an action. The legal services task team report concludes that much of the unmet legal service need in Saskatchewan comes from a deficit in "entry-level information" about legal rights and responsibilities. Many consumers who are repelled by the notion of hourly fees are reluctant to seek out even elemen- tary details, says the report, and a distinction between legal advice and legal information is blurred. The authors call for more clarity about who can provide legal information and what constitutes the unauthorized practice of law. The task force also called on legislators to amend the act to allow new categories of law society membership for "alternative service provid- ers." The prairie law societ- ies understood this would likely require regulating entities, according to "Innovating Regulation," a discussion paper pro- duced by the three law societies. This would be a change from the law societies' traditional role regulating individual lawyers. The prairie provinces have a history of collaboration in legal profession regulation and engaged in consultations on these issues, says Tim Brown, a Regina-based lawyer and executive director of the Law Society of Saskatchewan. "Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta are building a resumé of working together on some significant programs and really building a relationship and a history of working together," Brown says. "This type of collaboration is going to be more significant going forward." Through the prairie partnership, the respective law societ- ies are devising methods and plans for entity regulation. "We've worked together on this project for over a decade," says Brown. "We're in the process of redeveloping that pro- gram to ensure that it equips the lawyers of tomorrow with the competencies that they require." Entity regulation will shift law societies from a reactive to proactive role, going from policing the profession to working in partnership with firms to create built-in best practices to insert into their systems to eliminate unethical behaviour at the root, says Brown. As of April 2019, all firms in Manitoba will have to regis- ter as firms with the law society and will be required to get approval from the law society to maintain a trust account, says Kris Dangerfield, CEO of the Law Society of Manitoba. Those designated as trust account supervisor will also have to com- plete a trust account education program. "The rationale for the program, of course, is that the public will be better protected and that the number of claims associ- ated with mismanagement of trust funds will be significantly reduced," she says. "So that's a pretty significant change for us in Manitoba." With access to justice an issue in the legal profession, span- ning the country and beyond, the Manitoba Law Society has convened a "president's special committee on alternate legal service providers" to explore possibilities. The committee found that debtor/creditor and other consumer law matters, employment, estate, discrimination, family, health and disabil- ity, personal injury, housings, benefits and immigration had the greatest need for expanded services. "This is an era where we can't take public trust for granted," says Byron Williams, director of the public interest law centre of legal aid Manitoba. CORPORATE COUNSEL Connect with Find more than 4,100 corporate counsel and over 1,500 organizations along with fresh editorial content, information on deals and links to important resources. Lexpert.ca/ccca ntitled-5 1 2018-10-25 5:58 PM

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