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12 M A 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 R E G I O N A L W R A P B R I T I S H C O L U M B I A LSBC ESTABLISHES LICENSED PARALEGAL TASK FORCE T he Law Society of B.C. has established a Licensed Paralegal Task Force that picks up where the Alternate Legal Service Provider Working Group, formed in January 2018, left off at year's end. "The new task force will take into consideration consultations by the working group as it consults broadly with the profession and others to identify opportunities for the delivery of legal servic- es that would benefit the public in areas of substantial unmet legal need. It will also consider the education, qualifications, credentials and experience that would be required for licensed paralegals," LSBC spokesman David Jordan said via email. Currently, the LSBC does not regulate paralegals or designated paralegals (who have enhanced legal abilities) but exercises control over their actions through supervising lawyers. Under the 2018 proposal set out by the ALSPWG, a new category of legal service provider would be created, known as licensed paralegals in the statutory amendments in the Legal Profession Act, and, these indi- viduals could work independently of supervising lawyers. However, lawyers attending the LSBC 2018 annual general meeting, presided over by then president and chairwoman of the ALSPWG Miriam Kresivo, voted to nix the idea. The AGM membership passed a resolution that asked bench- ers to "request that the provincial government not pass regulations to bring the licensed paralegal amendments into force until the Benchers have had more time to complete their consultations regarding licensed paralegals; and not to authorize licensed para- legals to practice family law under the authority provided in the amendments to the Legal Profession Act." The resolution, although not binding on benchers, was taken into consideration along with feedback from the ALSPWG consul- tation paper "Family Law Legal Providers," which looked at how licensed paralegals could be used in the family law field, one of seven areas identified in a 2014 report of expanding legal service providers to provide greater access to justice. At the March 1 LSBC meeting, benchers passed a resolution to establish the Licensed Paralegal Task Force to reflect the amend- ment of the Legal Professions Act regarding licensed paralegals and set out a new mandate for the task force. The mandate asks the task force to consider and identify opportunities for the delivery of legal services in areas where there is an unmet need and the public would benefit from the use of licensed paralegals. If the task force can identify those areas, it should also consider the scope of services that licensed paralegals could deliver, education and qualifications, credentials, experience and insurance and make recommendations to the benchers on the regulatory framework required to implement a system. The new paralegal task force is being chaired by Trudi Brown, a family law lawyer practising with Brown Henderson Melbye in Victoria. Brown was the winner of the 2017 Law Society Excel- lence in Family Law Award. At that time, Nanaimo-based Nancy Merrill, second vice president and chairwoman of the selection committee, called Brown "a trailblazer in family law in this prov- ince." Merrill is now the 2019 president of the LSBC. Vice chairman Michael Welsh, 2018-2020 bencher for the Okanagan area, is a partner in the Penticton firm Mott Welsh. He holds credentials as a qualified mediator, qualified arbitrator and a certified family arbitrator. He is also a past president of the Canadian Bar Association B.C. branch from 2016-2017. Before Trudi Brown, a family law lawyer practising with Brown Henderson Melbye in Victoria, is the chairwoman of the new paralegal task force. Enhance your presence on Canada's largest legal directory AVAILABLE ONLINE AND IN PRINT Containing contact information for more than 66,000 judges and legal professionals, more than 27,500 law offices, government departments, and law related offices, canadianlawlist.com attracts more than 325,000 page views a month and 110,000 unique visitors! Book your enhanced listing today! Contact Colleen Austin at 416.649.9327 or colleen.austin@tr.com www.canadianlawlist.com ntitled-6 1 2019-04-18 4:32 PM

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