2018 Annual General Meeting Notice: December 4, 2018

[Notice updated: November 21 and December 4, 2018]

The date of the continued AGM is Tuesday, December 4, 2018

Call to order: 12:30 pm PST

 

 

In this notice, you will find information on:

• locations
• resolutions

 

Continued 2018 Annual General Meeting locations
Districts	City/town	Location (coffee, tea and water will be available at all AGM locations)
No. 1 - Vancouver	Vancouver	Hyatt Regency, Regency Ballroom 655 Burrard Street, Vancouver, BC
No. 2 - Victoria	Victoria	Fairmont Empress, Crystal Ballroom 721 Government Street, Victoria, BC
No. 3 - Nanaimo	Nanaimo	Vancouver Island Conference Centre, Mt Benson Ballroom (Room C) 101 Gordon Street, Nanaimo, BC
	Courtenay	Crown Isle Resort & Golf Community, Silver Room   399 Clubhouse Drive, Courtenay, BC
No. 4 - Westminster	Abbotsford	Quality Inn Hotel & Conference Centre, Pinnacle I   36035 N Parallel Road, Abbotsford, BC
	Surrey	Sheraton Guildford Hotel, Guildford Ballroom   15269 104th Avenue, Surrey, BC
No. 5 - Kootenay	Castlegar	Canada’s Best Value Inn Castlegar, Banquet & Conference Room 1935 Columbia Ave, Castlegar, BC
	Cranbrook	Best Western Cranbrook Hotel, DW Krocker Room   1019 Cranbrook Street North, Cranbrook
No. 6 - Okanagan	Kelowna	Coast Capri Hotel, Salon A Ballroom 1171 Harvey Avenue, Kelowna, BC
No. 7 - Cariboo	Prince George	Ramada Inn Prince George, Skylight Ballroom 444 George Street, Prince George, BC
	Dawson Creek	Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites, Dawson Room 12217 4th Street, Dawson Creek, BC
No. 8 - Prince Rupert	Prince Rupert	Inn on the Harbour, Board Room 720 1st Ave W, Prince Rupert, BC
	Smithers	Perry & Co., Board Room    3875 Broadway Avenue, Smithers, BC
	Terrace	Legal Aid-Legal Services Society, Board Room    207-3228 Kalum Street, Terrace, BC
No. 9 - Kamloops	Kamloops	The Plaza Hotel, Blackwell Hall 405 Victoria Street, Kamloops, BC

 

 

Business of the meeting

As provided in Rule 1-13(18), the business of the continued 2018 Annual General Meeting will be the following:

Resolution 1: Appointment of Law Society auditors for 2018

Resolution 2: Mandatory Pro Bono Legal Aid Services

Resolution 3: Withdrawal of Requested Legislative Amendments to the Legal Profession Act Regarding Non-Lawyer Legal Service Providers

Resolution 4: Mandatory 10 Hours of Pro Bono per Calendar Year

Resolutions

Resolution 1: Appointment of Law Society auditors for 2018

BE IT RESOLVED that PricewaterhouseCoopers be appointed as the Law Society auditors for the year ending December 31, 2018.

Resolution 2: Member resolution submitted by Kevin McCullough and Danielle Young

WHEREAS the Law Society of British Columbia recognizes that access to justice is a fundamental human right, and that without meaningful access to justice the rule of law is threatened;

AND WHEREAS currently access to justice for the majority of British Columbians is at a crisis level and needs to be immediately addressed;

AND WHEREAS First Nations Peoples are particularly disadvantaged by the access to justice crisis in British Columbia;

AND WHEREAS the provision of mandatory pro bono legal services by the legal profession will promote greater access to justice and uphold the rule of law.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that:

1) The Benchers are directed to amend the Rules of the Law Society to include a professional obligation on all practising lawyers to perform a minimum level of pro bono Legal Services Society legal services.

2) The Rules shall provide that mandatory pro bono service would be completed by contacting the Legal Services Society for assignment of a case as per the following:

(i) A lawyer who, without payment, assumes conduct of a summarily proceeding criminal matter assigned by the Legal Services Society will be deemed to have completed the professional obligation for pro bono Legal Aid services for a period of 2 years.

(ii) A lawyer who, without payment, assumes conduct of a Family Law Act proceeding assigned by the Legal Services Society will be deemed to have completed the professional obligation for pro bono Legal Aid services for a period of 4 years.

(iii) A lawyer who, without payment, assumes conduct of a Child Family and Community Service Act proceeding assigned by the Legal Services Society will be deemed to have completed the professional obligation for pro bono Legal Aid services for a period of 4 years.

(iv) A lawyer who, without payment, assumes conduct of an immigration refugee claim assigned by the Legal Services Society will be deemed to have completed the professional obligation for pro bono Legal Aid services for a period of 3 years.

3) The Rules shall also provide that practising lawyers may opt out of performing the mandatory pro bono legal services requirement with some form of penalty.

Commentary:

The Benchers have previously considered whether requiring members to make a contribution of pro bono legal services is an appropriate regulatory requirement for the Benchers to implement. The conclusion has been that the provision of pro bono legal services is a tradition within the legal profession that is to be strongly encouraged but not a professional responsibility.

Resolution 3: Member resolution submitted by Peter Leask, QC and Karen Nordlinger, QC

WHEREAS the Law Society since its inception has taken vigorous steps to prevent non-lawyers from practising law;

AND WHEREAS it is the view of the membership that training, experience and qualification as a lawyer is a requirement for the ability to practise law;

AND WHEREAS it is in the public interest that members of the public are not provided with inadequate advice from "legal service providers" as a substitute for fully-qualified lawyers who currently have and should retain the sole right to practise law in this province;

AND WHEREAS a solution to the access to justice issue, with immediate benefit, is an adequately funded legal aid system where people have the benefit of fully-trained lawyers to assist them to resolve their family law disputes;

AND WHEREAS it is not in the public interest to have less qualified persons providing legal advice to members of the public facing family law issues, given the following:

a. Family law disputes are complex and require lawyers to provide advice or identify critical issues within a wide range of legal fields, including tax, corporate, insurance, contracts, employment, property, immigration, pensions, trusts, estates, criminal law, conflicts of law and bankruptcy;

b. Legal disputes have very serious and long-lasting financial implications on families, including children;

c. The outcome of a custody or parenting arrangements application may have a long-term impact upon a child's emotional life and well-being;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the membership directs the Benchers to withdraw their application to the provincial government seeking legislative amendments to the Legal Profession Act, S.B.C. 1998, c. 9, to enable the Law Society to create, credential and regulate new categories of non-lawyer legal service providers and directs the Benchers to refrain from any further action to have non-lawyers practise law.

Commentary:

Based on the conclusion that a diversity of qualified legal service providers was in the public interest, in December 2014 the Benchers unanimously approved seeking amendments to the Legal Profession Act to permit the Law Society to establish new categories of legal service providers to engage in the practice of law, set the credentialing requirements and educational qualifications for such individuals, and regulate their legal practice. As a result, the Law Society sought the necessary amendments from the provincial government.

Although the Legal Profession Act has not been amended to permit the Law Society to establish new categories of legal service providers, earlier this year the Benchers established the Alternate Legal Service Providers Working Group to look at the scope of practice and qualifications that might be required if legal service providers other than lawyers were permitted to provide some legal services in relation to family law matters. To that end, the working group has produced a consultation paper for discussion and comment, which consultation is open until December 31, 2018.

Resolution 4: Member resolution submitted by Amber Prince and Taruna Agrawal

WHEREAS it is a privilege for lawyers to practise law;

AND WHEREAS our province faces serious access to justice problems.

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that lawyers practising in British Columbia be required to perform a minimum of 10 pro bono hours per calendar year in order to maintain their practice status.

Commentary:

The Benchers reiterate the point made in connection with Resolution 2 that the Benchers have previously considered mandatory pro bono and their conclusion has been that the provision of pro bono legal services by the BC legal profession is to be strongly encouraged but that it should not be a professional responsibility.