Daily Archives: 1/21/2005
Legal Go Figure
| 1/21/2005 | Posted by Patti under Canadian News, General |
There is a movement afoot in the Province of Ontario to regulate paralegals operating in this province. This is not a bad thing, people need to have the ability to respond to bad and incompetent service from paralegals just like any other profession where people’s futures are stake.
Where the province appears to be heading at this point is regulating paralegals under the supervision of the Law Society of Upper Canada. That is akin to putting a fox in the hen house and expecting that justice and good order will take place. Competent paralegals can and do deliver legal services to their clients much cheaper than lawyers can or will. Needless to say, lawyers don’t like that.
In many instances, it isn’t just about cost of delivering the service, the issue is providing access to justice. Just today a client who has been served a notice to vacate his home for mortgage arrears contacted me. We had told him he needed to see a lawyer immediately and have the lawyer file a motion to set aside default judgment. The client has a commitment to funding to catch up his arrears and reinstate the mortgage. He needs a bit of time to get the deal done.
He contacted eight lawyers, two of which we had suggested. Not one of them was willing to even hear the details of the request. They weren’t interested in even taking him on. This is an action that under current rules in Ontario, requires a lawyer. How can the client have access to justice when the very ones who have the power to provide it will not?
This person doesn’t live in a large urban centre where he can just keep looking down the list, he lives in a small rural area which has a finite number of lawyers in the area. There are paralegals who would file this in a flash for him, but they would be charged with illegally practicing as a barrister. Go figure.
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