Building Blocks
to Better Regulation
International Conference of
Legal Regulators
July 27-28, 2015
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
All conference sessions and events take place at the Law Society of Upper Canada, 130 Queen Street West, Toronto, unless
otherwise indicated. The law society is located across Queen Street from the Sheraton Centre Hotel.
2015 International Conference of Legal Regulators
Building Blocks to Better Regulation
The 4th International Conference of Legal Regulators takes place in Toronto, Canada on July 27th and
28th, with an opening reception on the evening of July 26th.
Co-hosted by the Law Society of Upper Canada and the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, this
year’s conference focuses on the needs of legal regulators in today’s rapidly shifting legal services
market. The conference explores a number of key themes in the context of building better regulation.
Through a mix of plenary sessions and concurrent workshops, an international group of panelists
will share their experiences and insights on emerging issues and practical strategies.
Our international group of panelists includes:
•
Allan Fineblit, Q.C., Counsel, Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP (Conference Coordinator)
•
Daniel Abrahams, Manager, Trustee Services/Compensation Fund, Law Society of Upper
Canada
•
Lawrence Bloom, Senior Staff Attorney, DC Office of the Bar Counsel
•
Kris Dangerfield, Chief Executive Officer, Law Society of Manitoba
•
John Elliot, Director of Regulation, Law Society of Ireland
•
Susan Fortney, Professor of Legal Ethics and Director of the Institute for the Study of Legal
Ethics at Hofstra University
•
Tahlia Gordon, Principal, Creative Consequences PL, New South Wales
•
Jonathan Herman, CEO, Federation of Law Societies of Canada
•
Alison Hook, International Adviser, Solicitors Regulation Authority
•
Niels Hupkes, Manager Supervision, Netherlands Bar
•
Joan Janssen, Director-General (Legal Group), Ministry of Law, Singapore
•
Tracey Kepler, President, National Organization of Bar Counsel
•
Leah Kosokowsky, Director, Complaints Resolution, Law Society of Manitoba
•
Janice LaForme, Senior Counsel, Professional Regulation, Law Society of Upper Canada
•
Robert Lapper, Chief Executive Officer, Law Society of Upper Canada
•
Steve Mark, Principal, Creative Consequences PL, New South Wales
•
Malcom Mercer, General Counsel, McCarthy Tétrault/ Bencher, Law Society of Upper Canada
•
Iain Miller, Head of Regulation, Bevan Brittan LLP
•
Zeynep Onen, Executive Director, Professional Regulation, Law Society of Upper Canada
•
Paul Philip, Chief Executive, Solicitors Regulation Authority
•
Wallace Shipp, Bar Counsel, DC Office of the Bar Counsel
•
Laurel Terry, Professor of Law, Penn State’s Dickinson Law
•
Margot Tung, Director of Compliance, Law Society of Hong Kong
Sunday, July 26, 2015
18:00 - 20:00
Conference Welcoming Reception
Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO)
317 Dundas Street West, Toronto
Delegates will be on their own for dinner following the reception.
2015 International Conference of Legal Regulators
Building Blocks to Better Regulation
Monday, July 27, 2015
08:00 - 09:00
Conference Breakfast (Provided at conference site)
09:00 - 09:15
Welcome and Orientation
Janet E. Minor, Treasurer, Law Society of Upper Canada
Thomas G. Conway, President, Federation of Law Societies of Canada
09:15 - 10:45
Lawyer Trust Accounts: Is there a Better System?
Billions of dollars flow through lawyer trust accounts every day.!In an
environment where money laundering and large scale frauds are increasingly
prevalent, how can regulators reduce the risk of theft without defaulting to
over regulating? This session will question the effectiveness of!traditional
models of trust oversight and explore different and innovative regulatory
tools for ensuring trust safety.
10:45 - 11:15
Refreshment Break
11:15 - 12:15
Lawyers and the Canadian Experience with the Indian Residential
School Settlement Agreement – Lessons Learned
This session will explore the background and impetus for the Settlement
Agreement and the Independent Assessment Process designed to compensate
survivors of Indian Residential Schools. Panelists will focus on the role of
lawyers in the process and claims that lawyers were exploiting their vulnerable
clients. The panel will share the challenges faced by Canadian regulators, the
regulators’ response, and the lessons that may be drawn from their experiences.
12:15 - 13:15
Conference Lunch
13:15 - 14:30
Burning Issues for Legal Regulators
The panel will bring together different perspectives on the hot button issues
facing conference attendees. Join your colleagues in finding solutions during
this interactive session.
14:30- 15:00
Refreshment Break
15:00 - 15:45
Competence Initiative: Beyond CPD
Paul Philip, Chief Executive of the Solicitors Regulation Authority will describe the
SRA’s current competence initiative, including the reasons for moving away from a
points-collection system to a process of ongoing evaluation post licensing and the
related transition process.
15:45 - 17:00
Lawyers on the Edge: Licensure and the Impaired Professional
Speakers will approach the challenge of regulating lawyers with addiction and
mental health issues from the perspective of experts in the medical and peer
support fields. The panel will discuss how to recognize a professional with
impairment early on. Resources that are helpful in mitigating the effect of illness to
prevent harm to clients and diminish the need for discipline will also be discussed.
18:00- 21:00
Dinner (Convocation Hall, Law Society of Upper Canada)
2015 International Conference of Legal Regulators
Building Blocks to Better Regulation
Tuesday, July 28, 2015
08:00 - 09:00
Conference Breakfast (Provided at conference site)
09:00 - 10:30
In an Ever Expanding Universe of Legal Services, What is the
Future of Legal Regulation?
This session will focus on challenges to legal regulation and emerging
approaches in the brave new world of expanded legal services. What is in scope
and what is not? What are the risks presented by the unregulated sector? What is
the role of the regulator of the future? Panelists will explore these questions and
the preferred path forward.
10:30 - 11:00
Refreshment Break
11:00 - 12:15
What Can We Expect from the United States?
In this session, panelists will discuss new approaches implemented and under
consideration in the US, and expected directions for the future.
12:15 - 13:30
ABS, Entity Regulation and Proactive Regulation Update
Attendees will hear about new Alternative Business Structures and
developments in ABS regulation in Australia, England, Canada and the US.
The discussion will highlight proactive regulation and the perspectives of the
regulator, the regulated and the public.
13:30 - 14:30
Conference Lunch
14:30 - 15:30
Concurrent Workshops
1. Building a Regulator
In this "how to" session, attendees will learn about building a new regulator and
how to make large-scale transitions for long-standing regulatory organizations.
The speakers will talk about what they have learned from their own experiences as
regulatory builders.
2. Building and Maintaining Credibility with the Public – How to
Maintain Public Confidence in a Consumer-Driven Environment
Speakers will share their experiences and lessons learned as regulatory leaders.
They will explore how to address the public’s expectation that they will be
protected from harm in a world in where lawyers will inevitably engage in
misconduct, and in a world where regulators cannot attain perfection.
15:30- 16:00
16:00 - 17:00
Refreshment Break
International Cooperation and Information Sharing
This interactive session will look at possibilities for international sharing of
information among legal regulators. Is there a need for this and if so, where should
our efforts be focused? Speakers will consider tools available for sharing
information on an ongoing basis.