Canadian Lawyer

46 M A R C H 2 0 1 7 w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m have access to a lawyer — especially in family law where the stakes are so high." Despite unbundling not being a per- fect solution, Gershbain calls it a "major trend right now" and argues that the profession has an obligation to "encour- age lawyers to offer it, train them to understand what's different about this model and to encourage them to pro- mote the service so clients are aware of the fact this is an option for them." The project is also developing a national database of family lawyers across Canada who offer unbundled services. Macfarlane says there are pro- vincially based projects she is co-ordi- nating with to get more names on the list, adding it's "only recently we've been seeing a sea change with more people willing to come forward." "There's a real disconnect in the market — we hear from people literally every day looking for people to do what we might call unbundling or coaching, but they don't have anywhere to look for that but to call every single lawyer in the phone book because it's not being advertised or promoted to the public." Philip Epstein, senior partner at Epstein Cole LLP in Toronto, encourages lawyers at his firm to offer unbundling, saying it's desperately needed. "Lawyers can coach — explain to the client what they need to do and don't need to do," he says. Coaching is "very new language" and Gershbain stresses this is not about law- yers becoming non-legal coaches but providing support, guidance and the tools needed to effectively get clients through litigation. Macfarlane says that although the self-reps she spoke to talked about just such a model, the term unbundling doesn't tend to mean much to the public. And for lawyers, who may have some familiarity with the term, it is important that they use the word they're comfort- able with. Nancy Merrill, second vice president of the Law Society of British Columbia, who practises family law at Merrill Long & Co. in Nanaimo, B.C., says inconsistent terminology is a challenge. "I've seen it referred to as limited-scope legal services. It's called a la carte legal services in the U.S. I think there should be a universal term," she says. "We all need to get on the same page." Epstein says another concern law- yers may have is insurance, but he says courts have sanctioned carefully drawn legal retainer agreements and, as long as they are properly drafted, "fears of wider liability are illusory." He cites a 2016 British Columbia Supreme Court case, Heppner v. Heppner, where the judge, Robert McDiarmid, wrote that "limited retainers, such as is the case LAWYERS CAN COACH — EXPLAIN TO THE CLIENT WHAT THEY NEED TO DO AND DON'T NEED TO DO. PHILIP EPSTEIN, Epstein Cole LLP L E G A L R E P O RT \ FA M I LY L AW Get there faster and more reliably with Lexis Practice Advisor ® Canada. With thousands of practice notes, forms, precedents, and time-saving tools, we're your best resource, every time. Lexis Practice Advisor ® is the industry's leading practice resource with content created and maintained by our internal team of lawyers and hundreds of leading practitioners from the top law firms in Canada. NEW: Time saving, task-based calculators, exclusively available through Lexis Practice Advisor! Go ahead, take the next step. Lexis Practice Advisor ® Canada helps you apply the law lexisnexis.ca/practiceadvisor FORWARD. FAST. Written by experts More content, better value Smart, powerful tools Superior work product Now Available: Family Law Modules for both Ontario and British Columbia ntitled-5 1 2017-02-09 3:06 PM

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