ARCTIC OBITER

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
nly roughly 10% of all discipline complaints received
O in Ontario are because of legal errors. The vast
majority arise because of ineffective client communication
and poor office management. The story is the same across
most of the country.
The mandate of the Federation of law Societies is to serve the
public interest; a mandate shared by every law society
including our own. Two keys aspects of
that mandate are strengthening the
profession’s system of self- governance
and reinforcing public confidence in it.
Clearly a reduction in the types of issues
that lead to complaints will both
strengthen the profession and have the
corollary effective of improving public
confidence.
That we must achieve these goals in an
ever globalizing world was a central topic
of the March semi- annual conference of
the Federation of Law Societies in Quebec
City, attended by our Vice-President
Karen Wilford, Federation representative
Sheila MacPherson, Executive Director
Linda Whitford and myself. The Conference
Caroline G. Wawzonek
was an opportunity to exchange ideas, hear innovative
solutions to shared challenges, and identify helpful
resources. I would like to provide you with a few highlights:
Access to justice remains a high priority for the Federation.
The point was made that lawyers providing services to the
most vulnerable and too frequently under-served members
of the public are themselves often the most at risk for
professional complaints and/or personal health issues, which
in turn can lead to complaints. One aspect of supporting
access to justice is, therefore, to support the lawyers who
provide the “front line” services. These groups include sole
practitioners, young lawyers and others who operate a high
volume practice, and lawyers in rural settings with fewer
similarly situated colleagues. The point is not to single these
groups out only at the stage when a complaint is already
coming in. The importance of identifying high risk groups is
to ensure that the Law Society is adequately performing its
role by providing these groups of lawyers with sufficient
practice management supports.
Several law societies have extensive online information
targeting the needs and issues that members of these groups
may face. Alberta has launched SoloNet as an online forum
to encourage sole practitioners or lawyers in rural settings to
seek and establish connections with
colleagues. In British Columbia, articling
students are required to spend an hour
with a bencher, which hopefully creates a
foundation for seeking future mentoring
from other practitioners.
There are also creative supports to help
lawyers balance the demands of practice
against the rest of their lives. For example,
in Quebec, the legal profession, the
Minister of Justice and the judiciary
signed a declaration in support of family
life balance. Anecdotally, lawyers have
successfully relied on the declaration in
circumstance when they felt they were
being pressured to work hours that made
their life balance untenable.
Several law societies make available practice advisors who
not only can provide advice to lawyers with specific practice
questions, but will also assist a lawyer to establish (or reestablish)
good office management systems.
One other key message for all lawyers is that a duty exists
for all of us to help support our colleagues in the legal
profession. Obviously this includes making time for formal
mentoring, both mentors and potential mentees, but it can
also be far more casual and day-to-day. It may be as simple
as taking time for a coffee with a colleague when you have a
hunch that something is wrong. We owe it to ourselves and
the profession we share to take those few moments and
check in with ourselves and each other.
2 ■ MARCH/APRIL 2013 ARCTIC OBITER