Restoring Justice

Photo by Mike Dembeck/NSBS
At the outset of
this Council year,
I decided that my
year as President would be guided by three main priorities: 1)
improving access to legal services in Nova Scotia; 2) ensuring
the Society plays a supportive role for lawyers in rural areas; and
3) keeping lawyer mental health at the forefront of our work. I
am now one third of the way through my year as President (time
flies) and I am happy to report progress in each of these areas.
This progress is not the result of any individual heroics on my
part; instead, it is the result of the Society’s ongoing work in
transforming regulation.
An overhaul of the way in which we regulate the legal profession
in Nova Scotia has been at the top of our “to do” list for the
last two years. For some time, we referred to this work as
“entity regulation” – a label still used by many jurisdictions both
nationally and internationally. In Nova Scotia, we now refer to the
new model as “legal services regulation” both because “entity
regulation” sounds like something from a bad sci-fi movie and
because “legal services regulation” more fully describes the
scope of the work. The new model of regulation provides an
ideal framework for focusing on my three main priorities.
Access to legal services
We hope the new approach will encourage – instead of stifling –
innovation and creativity in legal service delivery by lawyers and
law firms. Backing away from prescriptive rules and unnecessary
“red tape” is intended to give lawyers and law firms more
freedom with respect to how they choose to “set up shop” and
manage themselves. Abolishing the current prohibition against
fee-sharing, for example, could further enhance opportunities
for innovation. Markets that previously held little attraction for
lawyers may become viable.
Council is also considering policies that would let us loosen the
lawyer monopoly somewhat by permitting specified individuals
or groups of non-lawyers to deliver legal services in areas where
there is an access-to-justice need and where there is no risk to
the public. For example, why not permit community centre staff
who have experience with Canada Pension Plan application
forms to assist those in need of this service? What about retired
lawyers who miss the action and would like to assist with peace
bond applications? We are questioning whether the rules that
prevent these forms of service delivery are really in the public
interest.
Access-to-justice
priorities at the root
of regulatory overhaul
the
president’s
view
Rural practice
Sole practitioners and small firms in rural areas are a cornerstone
of access to justice. Changes in the way we regulate the profession
must not place additional burdens on these practitioners. Our
“Solo and Small and Small Firm Working Group,” under the
able leadership of Second Vice-President Julia Cornish QC, has
done much of the heavy lifting for our transforming regulation
work. The working group has produced a self-assessment tool
that will assist lawyers in determining if they are meeting the
overall principles and objectives that guide the new approach
to regulation. As we move forward, we are committed to a
comprehensive consultation process that will ensure we have the
benefit of input from lawyers around the province.
Lawyer mental health
The mental health of lawyers is an access-to-justice issue
because we can’t meet legal needs in a timely, thorough and
compassionate manner if we are overworked, burned out and
generally unwell. This is a particular hazard for lawyers in those
areas of practice with the most intimate connection to the
access-to-justice crisis such as family and criminal law; high
volume and emotional intensity are hallmarks of such practices.
Changing the way we regulate should be part of the solution on
this front also. If lawyers are able to spend less time ensuring
compliance with detailed rules that have little-to-no practical
application to their particular worlds, time will be freed up to focus
on issues that matter to them and their clients. The Society will
play a supportive role that is guided by the desire to help lawyers
avoid problems before they occur. Significantly, jurisdictions that
have moved to this form of regulation report a higher level of job
satisfaction, fewer complaints and better profit margins.
In sum, it’s a very exciting time for the Nova Scotia Barristers’
Society and the legal profession in this province. Jurisdictions
across the country and around the world are closely following
our work. I hope I have helped to highlight the ways in which
our work in transforming regulation addresses some pressing
issues in very concrete terms. We need your help with this work.
Stay tuned – you’ll be hearing from us!
Jill Perry
President
Fall 2015 5