Canadian Lawyer

10 J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 9 w w w . c a n a d i a n l a w y e r m a g . c o m benchers currently include former treasurers, Ontario attorneys-general, "emeritus" benchers and "life benchers." The report said that there were 40 ex-officio benchers, including the current trea- surer and the current attorney general, and 17 of the ex- officio benchers "participate regularly," the report said. These 17 benchers will be most affected by the changes approved on Nov. 30. Thornhill lawyer Alan Sil- verstein, who will lose his title of emeritus bencher next year, noted that emeritus benchers have already had minimal roles in Convocation since the previous governance reform, which he supported. "I never felt entitled to be a life bencher," says Silverstein. "I voted in favour of the [ear- ly-2010s governance] changes because I thought they were the right thing to do." Emeritus and life bench- ers are both past elected LSO benchers but have two differ- ent sets of privileges created by governance reform passed in 2009 and implemented in spring 2010. As it stands now, former treasurers after 2010 are cur- rently referred to as "emeritus" treasurers and have had the right to participate in Con- vocation debates but not the right to vote, according to an LSO Governance Task Force report submitted to Convoca- tion on Nov. 30. As for former benchers, emeritus benchers are those who served 12 years as of the last governance reform and have since had no rights at Convocation. The law society has more governance changes left to debate, including the number and size of committees, and meeting schedules — but those debates will wait until Convocation can determine "the effect of the initial changes that come into effect in 2019." "This approach will help Convocation assess the changes and assist it in rec- ommending the most appro- priate future changes," said Law Society Treasurer Mal- colm Mercer in a statement in the Law Society of Ontario Gazette from Nov. 30. Former treasurers from before 2010, such as Krishna, can, as of now, both debate and vote at Convocation. But at Convocation's May 23, 2019 meeting — the first under a new governance structure — that will change and Krishna will only be able to speak at Convocation but not vote. According to the LSO's Governance Task Force November 2018 report, ex- officio benchers without the "emeritus" title — life bench- ers who served 16 years or more as of the 2010 reforms, former treasurers and former attorneys general — were "grandparented" into Con- vocation with the 2010 gov- ernance reform, which also imposed 12-year term limits, the report said. Life benchers and attor- neys general cannot vote at Convocation but can debate. Those rules are set to change after April 30, 2019. The new 2018 governance reform proposal essentially consolidates these groups — meaning that all former trea- surers will not be able to vote at Convocation but will be able to participate in debates, and all other former ex-officio members will not have Con- vocation rights. In particular, Convoca- tion approved ending the role of "emeritus bencher," axing Convocation rights of ex-offi- cio benchers who served 16 years or more in office, bar- ring voting rights for former treasurers and terminating Convocation rights for former attorneys general. But the LSO also struck down some initiatives, such as a proposal to shrink bencher term limits to eight years, down from 12 years. The role of emeritus trea- surer, too, remains intact after the vote, despite the com- mittee's recommendation to eliminate the office. Benchers also tabled a proposed bench- er code of conduct, which will be discussed at a Dec. 10 Convocation meeting. Over the past decade, the law society has moved away from lifetime membership, introducing term limits in 2009. The Governance Task Force's latest report said it favours an "incremental" approach to reform that sup- ports "the infusion of fresh views and perspectives." The six proposals con- tained in the Governance Task Force's report would have reduced Convocation's core membership to 53 mem- bers, down from 93 (although only 70 benchers participate regularly at the Law Society,) the governance committee report said. Heather Ross, a lawyer at The Ross Firm PC, will lose her right to speak at Convo- cation and said in an email statement that she had already decided to retire from the LSO effective June 30, 2019 and she supports the gover- nance reforms. Her son, Quinn Ross, has said he plans to run in the April election. "We can still serve on and vote in committees; however, a series of recent successive treasurers have eliminated our ability to serve on commit- tees by simply not appointing most of us ex-officio benchers to committees," said Ross in the statement. However, Toronto lawyer Bob Aaron, who practises at Aaron & Aaron, said ex-offi- cio benchers have "effectively been shut out of participation in Law Society business." "This and having our ex- officio status taken away . . . is the thanks we get for more than 16 years of diligent ser- vice to the profession," said Aaron in an emailed state- ment. Sole practitioner and life bencher Julian Porter said he is concerned that a smaller Convocation will affect Northern communities. "A reduction of size will just give Toronto more power," said Porter. — Anita Balakrishnan R E G I O N A L W R A P LSO REMOVING PRIVILEGES FROM SOME LIFETIME ENCHERS Continued from page 9 "You can't just create a binder labelled 'institutional memory' and hand it off — it is a more fluid concept." Vern Krishna

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