Canadian Lawyer

24 O C T O B E R 2 0 1 5 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m managing director at Slater and Gordon, an Australian firm that listed publically in 2007. "In Australia, lawyers and law firms are regulated under the Legal Pro- fession Act, and regulations and profes- sional rules that apply in each state or territory. This has been the case for a very long time. For example, the first act in Victoria to regulate the practice of the legal profession was in 1891," says Grech. About a decade ago, when Australia permitted incorporated legal practice or alternative business structures, it required that one member of the board of directors at such practices be designated as a "legal practitioner director" whose responsibility includes maintaining professional conduct at the firm. Incorporated legal practices are also required to have appropriate man- agement systems for conflicts of interest, records management, communication, file transfers, billing practices, termination of retainers, undertakings, supervision of practice and staff, and trust accounts. Clients in Australia still make com- plaints against individual lawyers instead of the law firm, said Grech, because practice certificates are attached to individual law- yers and not law firms. Ultimately, sanc- tions that follow a disciplinary action result in lawyers losing their practice certificate, he says. "In regards to regulation of the entity, there are additional responsibili- ties and obligations that legal practitioner directors have under the laws, and sanc- tions as well. It is multilayered. Having said that, my own view is that given the significance of the operational setting [or the entity] on the behaviour of lawyers, entity regulation has broadly been a force for good." A better way to monitor ethics and practice Even without the introduction of ABS, the legal profession is dealing with new questions around ethics and what consti- tutes the practice of law that may be best monitored or aided by entity regulation. Take, for example, the debate around whether e-discovery and document review constitutes legal work. In the case of Deloitte, which acquired e-discovery services provider ADT Legal Services, the Law Society of Upper Canada has found professionals other than lawyers can undertake the work. The law soci- ety's position is that whether document review services constitute legal services depends on the specific nature of the review being done. While there are existing rules about delegation and supervision of work under the Rules of Professional Conduct, there is currently no requirement that law firms enact policies and procedures to ensure effective supervision, says Dodek. "One of the positive aspects of entity regulation would hopefully see the law society produce model policies and procedures for law firms to assist them." In the face of so many changes in the profession, bringing about entity regulation is no longer a matter of choice, says Perry. "I'd say get out ahead of this before it gets out ahead of you. It's not something that's kind of optional," she continues. "Legal service delivery and legal regulation and what's happening globally is just changing so much that I think all law societies are going to have to deal with this." S Osgoode's Professional LLM THE LAW IS ALWAYS EVOLVING — ARE YOU? Working full-time and pursuing your professional development goals is possible with Osgoode's Professional LLM programs. We offer you unparalleled fl exibility to attend onsite at our downtown Toronto facility or via real-time videoconferencing. LLM SPECIALIZATIONS STARTING IN JANUARY AND SEPTEMBER 2016 INCLUDE: A WORLD LEADER IN LAW SCHOOL LIFELONG LEARNING > Administrative Law > Dispute Resolution* > Business Law > Civil Litigation & Dispute Resolution > Constitutional Law > Criminal Law & Procedure > Energy & Infrastructure Law > Family Law > General > Intellectual Property Law > Labour Relations & Employment Law > Tax Law Want to learn more? Register for an info session webinar. www.osgoodepd.ca/CL *formerly the LLM in Alternative Dispute Resolution Untitled-2 1 2015-09-15 1:07 PM

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