Committees & Task Forces

The Act and Rules Committee recommends amendments to the Legal Profession Act and Law Society Rules.

Benchers

Lee Ongman (Chair)
Barbara Cromarty
Jeevyn Dhaliwal
Dean Lawton, QC

Staff contact

Jeff Hoskins, QC

The Complainants' Review Committee reviews the case files of complainants who are dissatisfied with dismissal of their complaints following a review by Law Society staff, see Law Society Rules 3-13 to 3-14.

Benchers

Satwinder Bains (Chair)
J.S. (Woody) Hayes, FCPA, FCA (Vice-Chair)
Elizabeth Rowbotham
Carolynn Ryan
Herman Van Ommen, QC
Tony Wilson, QC

Members

Veronica L. Jackson
Julianne Lamb
David A. Paul, QC

Staff liaison

Tara McPhail

The Ethics Committee identifies current professional responsibility issues and makes recommendations on changes to the Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia (formerly called the Professional Conduct Handbook) for consideration by the Benchers. The Committee also interprets existing Code rules, gives advice to individual lawyers and publishes opinions to the profession at large on matters of professional responsibility.

Benchers

Craig Ferris, QC (Chair)
Sharon Matthews, QC (Vice-Chair)
Jasmin Ahmad
Thomas Fellhauer
Steven McKoen
Gregory Petrisor
Elizabeth Rowbotham
Mark Rushton

Member

Greg DelBigio, QC

Staff contact

Lance Cooke

The Executive Committee consists of the President, the First and Second Vice-Presidents, the Second Vice-President-elect, three other Benchers elected from among the Benchers as a whole and one Appointed Bencher elected from among the Appointed Benchers.

The responsibilities of the Executive Committee include assisting the Benchers and the Executive Director in establishing relative priorities for the assignment of Society financial, staff and volunteer resources and planning Bencher meetings. For more on this committee, see Law Society Rules 1-48 to 1-49.

Benchers

Herman Van Ommen, QC (Chair)
Miriam Kresivo, QC (Vice-Chair)
Satwinder Bains
Thomas Fellhauer
Craig Ferris, QC
Nancy Merrill, QC
Sarah Westwood

Staff contact

Renee Collins

The Finance Committee and Audit Committee merged on January 1, 2014 to form the Finance and Audit Committee.

The Finance and Audit Committee provides oversight over the financial affairs of the Law Society. The committee provides recommendations on the annual fees, reviews the annual budgets, and periodically reviews the financial and investment results as needed. In addition, the committee oversees the external audit process, recommends the approval of the audited financial statements to the Benchers, and provides oversight over the internal controls and enterprise risk management of the Law Society.

Benchers

Miriam Kresivo, QC (Chair)
Craig Ferris, QC (Vice-Chair)
Thomas Fellhauer
J.S. (Woody) Hayes, FCPA, FCA
Sharon Matthews, QC
Steven McKoen
Nancy Merrill, QC
Herman Van Ommen, QC

Member

Peter Kelly

Staff contact

Jeanette McPhee
Andrea Langille

The Credentials Committee is responsible for overseeing the enrolment, education, examination and call to the bar of articled students, the transfer of lawyers to B.C. and the reinstatement of former lawyers. When the character or fitness of an applicant for admission, readmission or transfer needs to be addressed, the Committee considers the application directly or orders a formal credentials hearing. The Committee is also responsible for reviewing applications relating to a student's failed standing in PLTC and for considering any matters arising from the articling system. The Committee further assists the Benchers in setting credentials policy and ensuring that this policy is adhered to and assists in credentials program planning, evaluation and budget. For more on this committee, see Law Society Rules 2-50 to 2-104.

Benchers

Lisa Hamilton (Chair)
Martin Finch, QC (Vice-Chair)
Satwinder Bains
Jeffrey Campbell, QC
Pinder Cheema, QC
Miriam Kresivo, QC
Carolynn Ryan

Member

Judith Macfarlane

Staff contact

Lesley Small

Publications

May 2017: Program Review of the National Committee on Acreditation for the Federation of Law Societies

The Discipline Committee reviews complaints concerning lawyers or articled students that are referred by Law Society staff, the Complainants' Review Committee or any other committee. The Discipline Committee may dismiss a complaint, instruct staff to make further investigation, order a conduct review of a lawyer or recommend that a citation for a formal hearing be issued against a lawyer. The Committee also considers conditional admissions of discipline violations. For more on this committee, see Part 4 of the Law Society Rules.

Members

Brook Greenberg (Chair)
Claude Richmond (Vice-Chair)
Barbara Cromarty
Jeevyn Dhaliwal
Michael Feder
Christopher McPherson
Nancy Merrill, QC
Lee Ongman
Philip Riddell

Staff contact

Deborah Armour

The Governance Committee assesses the Law Society’s current governance structure and practices to identify any areas for improvement.

Benchers

Steven McKoen (Chair)
Satwinder Bains
Lisa Hamilton
Miriam Kresivo, QC
Jamie Maclaren
Elizabeth Rowbotham
Sarah Westwood

Staff Contacts

Adam Whitcombe
Renee Collins

The Practice Standards Committee reviews information about lawyers who may have competency-related problems and, when appropriate, orders investigations. The Committee recommends ways for lawyers with competency problems to become competent, such as through remedial programs, or restricts them from some areas of practice when necessary to protect the public. The Committee also helps plan programs to assist lawyers to practise more competently and maintain their own competence, and assists the Benchers in setting competency-related policy. For more on the Committee, see Law Society Rules 3-10 to 3-18.

Benchers

Sarah Westwood (Chair)
Dean Lawton, QC (Vice-Chair)
J. S. (Woody) Hayes, FCPA, FCA
Jamie Maclaren
Dan Smith
Michelle Stanford
Tony Wilson, QC

Member

John Waddell, QC

Staff contact

Sheila Redel

The Unauthorized Practice Committee enforces the Legal Profession Act with respect to all aspects of the practice of law by people who are not lawyers and develops policy recommendations for the Benchers in unauthorized practice matters.

Benchers

Carolynn Ryan (Chair)
Gregory Petrisor (Vice-Chair)
Pinder Cheema, QC
Jeevyn Dhaliwal
Martin Finch, QC
Lee Ongman
Michelle Stanford

Staff contact

Michael Kleisinger