SR Vol 27 No 3, July 2009 - Nova Scotia Barristers' Society

society
news
Admissions & Professional Development
Finance & Administration
Many opinions are expressed about the need for
continuing professional development and mandatory legal
education; the issues have been exhaustively studied throughout
the world.
The Society has a responsibility to ensure that lawyers are
competent. We exercise it in the most effective and appropriate
way possible, making every effort to consider both the public
interest and the needs of the profession, and avoiding heavyhanded
or bureaucratic approaches that have failed elsewhere.
The Continuing Competency Task Force has determined that
our jurisdiction is best served by a combination of educational
initiatives to ensure and enhance member competence. In order
to satisfy the public interest, we track what lawyers are doing
in terms of education and we create mandatory education from
time to time, especially when an area of practice is changing
substantially as in the implementation of the Land Registration
Act or new Civil Procedure Rules.
The Society also institutes mandatory education or testing
(when the need arises) in the area of practice management;
most recently by implementing a mandatory testing requirement
for anyone wanting to open a new trust account. To date, we
have not seen the need to or the benefit of requiring lawyers to
prove they have taken a number of hours of approved education.
All lawyers in Nova Scotia are asked to report their educational
efforts in their Annual Members Report, and the Society has
a recommended number of hours of self-study and formal
education for maintaining competence.
One of the key privileges of a career in law is the opportunity for
lifelong learning. As we all know, each case and every client pose
new questions and challenges. The law and legal practice are
always changing and part of our responsibility as lawyers is to
keep up. We must constantly challenge ourselves to see change,
including new information and technology, as opportunity and
embrace it to strengthen our knowledge and abilities.
It is the Society’s responsibility to ensure lawyers are meeting
the high standards we create and promote, which are always
directed towards enhancing competence, thereby improving
career satisfaction and service to the public and the profession
as a whole. Across Canada, the public is beginning to demand
that lawyers, like other professionals, continue engaging in
formal education throughout their careers. Our job, and our
passion, is around making that education as useful, interactive
and enjoyable as we possibly can.
The Society’s 2009 Annual Report is now posted on
our website at www.nsbs.org/annualReport.php, with detailed
financial reports and department and committee updates.
The Society ended fiscal 2009 with a surplus (before budgeted
transfers) of $59,099 in the unrestricted General Fund and a
deficit of $227,283 in the Restricted Lawyers’ Fund for Client
Compensation, for a combined deficit of $168,184. Of the net
surplus in the General Fund, $26,119 was the result of normal
operations and $32,980 was the result of Discipline repayments
received during the year. Total revenue was $17,104 greater than
budget and total operating expenses were $168,011 greater than
budget for the year. The total unrestricted reserves of the General
Fund were $327,482 at April 30, 2009.
Revenue
Fees revenue for practising and nonpractising members
exceeded the budget by $9,921, as a result of more membership
growth than budgeted. Revenue for Admissions and Professional
Development (A&PD) was $108,059 more than plan. Total Library
Revenue was below budget by $29,517. Draws from deferred
grant funds were $22,871 less than plan. Realized Investment
Income at $81,986 was below the budget by $21,192. The rate of
return was lower than budgeted.
Expenditures
Professional Responsibility expenses at $1,362,089 were $375,311
higher than budget and $447,130 higher than last year. One significant
file arguably created the bulk of this budgetary variance,
with costs incurred in Investigations and Spot Audits. Reported
A&PD expenses were $73,014 less than budget. The Futures
Project, a new program in 2009, was budgeted to $100,000 but
only $58,187 was spent, with the remainder ($41,813) set aside
to fund this initiative in fiscal 2010. Standards Development, a
new program for 2008, was also budgeted at $100,000. In 2008
and 2009, a total of $33,709 was spent and the balance is in an
internally restricted reserve to continue funding this initiative.
Interim staff changes for summer
Executive Director Darrel Pink is on leave from July until September,
and again from February to April 2010, to be a consultant to
the Tanganyika Law Society in Tanzania. Professional Responsibility
Director Victoria Rees, a 20-year employee of the Society with
a broad range of skills and experience, serves as acting executive
director during both leaves of absence. The Society will be fully
reimbursed for Mr. Pink’s salary and benefits for the time that he
is away. Building a relationship between the two law societies is
expected to have long-term benefits for both organizations.
12 The Society Record