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By Sarah Rider and Barbra Bailey
The Select Dinners on October 30 at the Radisson in Saskatoon and November 8 at the Hotel Saskatchewan in Regina will be focussed on offering the membership an update on two major issues affecting the legal system in Saskatchewan: Alternative Legal Service Providers and Proactive Law Firm Regulation.
Alternative Legal Service Providers: The Ministry of Justice and the Law Society of Saskatchewan jointly undertook a project to explore the possibility of allowing non-lawyers to provide some legal services. In 2017, a Task Team was appointed to examine this issue and develop recommendations for consideration by the Benchers and the Ministry about the appropriate role of non-lawyers in the provision of legal services. The Benchers have considered the work of the Legal Services Task Team and have accepted the recommendations as outlined in the Task Team’s final report. Work will now begin toward implementing those recommendations and the Select Dinner will offer an opportunity to discuss the next steps in this process.
Proactive Law Firm Regulation: The practice of law and the public’s demands for legal services are changing. Driven in part by new technologies, new business models and access to justice concerns, delivery and regulation of legal services has begun evolving around the world. In response, the Law Societies of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba have been examining a spectrum of regulatory tools that includes entity regulation, compliance-based regulation and alternative business structures to determine which, if any, might be effective in our jurisdictions. The Prairie Law Societies determined that proactive regulation of law firms in addition to regulation of individual lawyers was appropriate and have been working towards a regulatory framework that incorporates that approach. The Select Dinner presentation will provide an overview of the work completed and discuss the next steps in this important project.
Please consider joining us for these informative and timely CPD sessions!
To register please complete the form found here.
*Due to the important and relevant nature of the content of these sessions, the usual requirement for attendance at the Select Dinner of 25+ years of call has been removed*