Life skills and career tips for Canada's lawyers in training
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/50905
into their admissions programs. Hickey, like others, believes the stan- dard is directed more towards foreign lawyers wanting to upgrade their cre- dentials. The FLSC task force report points to an increasing number of for- eign-trained lawyers knocking on law societies' doors. "We have always said that those coming into our admissions course have to have a law degree or the equivalent," says Law Society of Mani- toba CEO Allan Fineblit. The "equiva- lent" referred to international students or interprovincial students attempting an admission program in another prov- ince. "It has been very hard to define what is an equivalent degree when every law school has different requirements." That feature hasn't escaped federal scru- tiny. As the report points out: "A 2007 Canadian Competition Bureau study on regulated professions questioned the ra- tionale behind the different admissions requirements of various law societies." For provinces such as Manitoba, On- tario, and Nova Scotia, the problem is more complex. They have introduced registration legislation that states the ad- missions system must be fair, a scenario that places added pressure on gatekeeper law societies. "That's a hard one to defend when there is no definition of equivalent," says Fineblit. Foreign-trained lawyers must go to the FLSC's National Commit- tee on Accreditation to determine what courses are needed to qualify for admis- sion programs in the province the indi- vidual plans to write. The NCA deter- mines equivalency in consultation with a council of Canadian law school deans. Mobility has become another is- sue. The Agreement on Internal Trade amendments make it clear that all levels of government view professions as na- tional entities with common admission standards. While there has been a mobil- ity agreement in place between the law societies since 2002, a national standard would further the AIT amendment. Lawyers moving to new provinces, students graduating in one province and seeking admission to the bar in another, and the influx of foreign-trained law- yers have combined to push for easier movement through national standards. "There is complete mobility today and that requires that we rethink how the admissions and credential process is to be harmonized," says Hunter, add- ing the national standard for admission programs was "just one piece of the puz- zle" with another FLSC committee now looking at harmonizing "the entry to the bar in the various provinces." The task force looked at the first- year curriculum of law schools across Canada and found they had many simi- larities. It was in the higher years where differences were noted. It is for this rea- son the federation's recommendations are delayed until 2015. "There will have to be moderate changes and we felt it would not be fair to students now going through," says Hunter. "The one change that we felt was necessary was for 28 F A L L 2010 C ANADIAN Lawy er 4STUDENTS Untitled-3 1 2/23/10 2:55:50 PM