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interest of client service, we're willing to give up our autonomy and create a bigger model of service.' It's really quite exciting." De Klerk says while it would be "wonderful" to get more government funding for legal aid, "that's an unlikely outcome at this point" and clinics are thinking about the best way to serve clients by capitalizing on the resources available to them. For LAO, clinic mergers will mean an increased scope and volume of work. The idea of clinics joining forces surfaced in a report in May that touted the efficiencies and cost savings that would arise from fewer clinics with lower administrative costs. Under the agreement, clinics will reinvest those savings into service delivery. With significant demographic changes in many of the GTA clinic areas, an overhaul of the system is long overdue, according to Moretti. Lenny Abramowicz, executive director of the Association of Community Legal Services of Ontario, says it's a good move as long as it guarantees certainty on clinic funding. "It's a positive step because it's in accordance with the plan both the clinic system through our strategic plan and Legal Aid Ontario through their thinking about this can agree on," he says. Abramowicz adds he would like to see transformation efforts in other parts of Ontario as well. Also in December, the Criminal Lawyers' Association and LAO staff lawyers announced what they're calling an "unprecedented" agreement to jointly rally for more funding for legal aid. The agreement is "in response to, and an effort to avert, a growing crisis in Ontario arising from Legal Aid Ontario's modernization efforts and their impact on criminal justice," the groups said in a press release. "The legal aid system is in dire need of greater funding," said CLA president Anthony Moustacalis, who noted the federal government needs to step up and "contribute their fair share — particularly in the light of its ever burgeoning criminal justice agenda." The agreement also seeks to protect the groups' "professional and ethical obligations" and create alliances to support each another. "Mutual concerns surrounding the current leadership and direction of Legal Aid Ontario brought the two groups together," the groups said. Legal aid lawyers have been fighting, without success, to secure collectivebargaining rights. In announcing the agreement, the CLA noted it joins the list of people and groups supporting those efforts. The agreement also "recognizes that a private, vibrant, independent, private-sector bar is essential to the fair administration of criminal justice in Ontario," according to the press release. — Yamri Taddese yamri.taddese@thomsonreuters.com GAIN INSIGHT ON CANADA'S LAW OF CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS NEW PUBLICATION GANGSTERISM: CANADA'S LAW OF CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS KAREN MARIE KATZ, LL.M. Gangsterism: Canada's Law of Criminal Organizations is the first publication to examine the phenomena of Canada's law of criminal organizations using a multi-disciplinary approach drawing on law, criminology and politics. You'll find new insight on Canada's organized crime law and an enlightening perspective on the challenges of investigating, combating, prosecuting and defending organized crime cases. This meticulously researched new resource presents a thorough assessment of the evolution of the Canadian criminal procedures – from the enactment of criminal law, through policing, prosecution, and defence, and finally to sentencing. PRAISE FOR GANGSTERISM: CANADA'S LAW OF CRIMINAL ORGANIZATIONS …a comprehensive and definitive work that describes the phenomena of organized crime… ORDER # 985680-65203 $102 Softcover approx. 500 pages November 2013 978-0-7798-5680-0 Shipping and handling are extra. Price subject to change without notice and subject to applicable taxes. I enjoyed reading this book and I hope you do as well. It brought me up to speed on a rapidly evolving and important part of the law… From the Foreword by Kent Roach, FRSC Professor of Law and Prichard Wilson Chair in Law and Public Policy, University of Toronto AVAILABLE RISK-FREE FOR 30 DAYS Order online: www.carswell.com Call Toll-Free: 1-800-387-5164 In Toronto: 416-609-3800 www.CANADIAN L a w ye r m a g . c o m Jan uary 2014 9

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