Canadian Lawyer - sample

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m N O V E M B E R / D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 23 country, but a lot remains to be done. "I believe over the past five or six years, the recognition that significant system change is needed has come to be recog- nized by the leaders of our justice system, certainly in a way that it never was previ- ously." Cromwell says various solutions are being explored and different levels of the justice system have roles to play. One of the areas where Cromwell would like to see the legal profession more engaged is on the cost of legal services. "I think that one of the big pieces of access to justice is the gap that we have between the need for legal services and their availability. It's not only a poverty issue. I'm certainly not making light of the needs of the poor and the disadvantaged. but I think it is important to realize that our gap in legal services goes way beyond that." Cromwell says one solution being dis- cussed is unbundling. In unbundling, law- yers provide services for part, but not nec- essarily all, of a legal matter. "I think most places now have a regula- tory framework for that to happen. But my sense of it is that it's not having much impact on the ground. The clients don't really understand it, lawyers maybe are reluctant to use it and so maybe we need some further training on how to make money doing unbundling of services. How to serve your clients better through unbun- dled services. There may be an education piece to it." Legal insurance is another possible solution, he says. "I also think in the long term legal expense insurance has got to be a piece of the solution. Why is it that Europeans by the millions have legal expense insurance and, outside of Quebec, [in] Canada it's a very small market?" Those who regulate the legal profession also have to take the problem seriously, says Cromwell. "If I were to have one wish, it would be that the governing bodies would develop an even greater sense of urgency in looking at how regulation of the profes- sion and access to legal services are related to each other and taking a very proactive stance with a view to increasing access to legal services." Technology and new business models are also being discussed, he says. "There's the whole technology piece — can we use technology to reduce the cost of services. We have had the whole alternative business structures debate in the profession, which I think is ongoing. But part of that is what is the access to justice potential of allowing investment in law by non-lawyers." That's not the only challenge Cromwell also sees ahead for the legal profession. "The bar will increasingly be affected by globalization. Increasingly, instructions are not coming from Toronto. They are com- ing from Tokyo or Washington or wher- ever. Obviously, law firms are responding to that. The global law firm phenomenon; that whole side of the more transactional, sophisticated transactional side of the prac- tice is going to be very challenging." Nevertheless, Cromwell is looking for- ward to joining a law firm once he finishes his work with the Supreme Court. "I have a tremendous respect for the profession and I'm looking forward to being a member of it again." Untitled-1 1 2016-10-31 9:26 AM

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