Convocation will elect a new treasurer on June 15, choosing between Philip Horgan and Jacqueline Horvat. This is the second treasurer election for both candidates as Horgan ran against the current treasurer, Teresa Donnelly, in 2020, and Horvat ran against Ross Earnshaw and Malcolm Mercer in 2018.
Horvat was elected as a bencher in 2011 and is a litigation lawyer and a founding partner of Spark Law, which has locations in the GTA and Windsor, Ont.
Jacqueline Horvat, Spark Law
In terms of issues that need to be dealt with immediately, Horvat said the Family Legal Services Provider Licence, which would enable paralegals to provide some legal services in family law, is at the top of her list.
“We’ve been working on that for too long and too hard. … I don’t think we can simply abandon it. I think we have to bring it to Convocation. We have to work with our stakeholders and with the public to get a licence that’s approved, that will be attractive to everyone, including paralegals, and that will assist the public,” she said, noting that “everyone needs to be on the same page.”
“The arguments I’ve heard against the licence are mostly focused on turf protection and I don’t think turf protection for the sake of turf protection is a good reason not to create the new specialized licence,” she added, stressing that the lawyer profession has to realize that “paralegals are here to stay and it’s been overwhelmingly positive” for both professions because paralegals “benefit the public and increase access to justice.”
Horvat also believes governance reform could be started in the next year.
“Convocation has been through the governance reform process a few times in the past, and it never seems to truly get done, but we chip away at all the problems. So, I would like to see a real deep dive into what we can do to make Convocation better,” she said, noting that the size of Convocation “is a problem.”
Horvat believes the current Convocation is too large and that the committees need access to more experts. For example, when a task force is developed to tackle a specific issue, such as technology, Convocation should “have the ability to appoint individuals to that committee that have expertise in this subject area.”
Horvat has extensive experience at the committee and task force level as she’s the chair of the Technology Task Force and the Treasurer’s Women in Law Advisory Group, as well as a vice-chair of the Strategic Planning and Advisory Committee. Horvat is also a member of the Audit & Finance Committee and Professional Regulation Committee and is the past chair of the Professional Regulation, Proceedings Authorization, Litigation, Interjurisdictional Mobility, Mentoring and Advisory Services Proposal Task Force as well as past vice-chair of Professional Development and Competence and Professional Regulation.
“As for Convocation itself and our board meeting, I would like to see some structure around the types of motions that can be brought by benchers without going through committee. I’ve always believed that anything that comes to Convocation should come on the recommendation of a committee or task force and that hasn’t necessarily been happening lately,” she said, noting that at the May Convocation there were multiple motions coming from benchers.
“Those types of motions,” she explained, can be a “distraction” and “disruption.”
“There’s a lot of time and money that gets wasted on those motions. I don’t mean to point anyone out because I think this comment relates to everyone at Convocation, not just one group, but I’d like to see more independent thought, analysis and decision making brought back to the Convocation table where we actually debate issues that are before Convocation and not side issues,” she added, noting that she’d also like to see fewer abstentions from votes.
“We’ve seen an increasing number of abstentions. A true conflict of interest is one thing, of course you’d have to abstain, but if you’re simply unable to make a decision and you don’t want to be seen as making a decision or taking a side on an issue, frankly, you shouldn’t be at the Convocation table. I’d like to see people there who actually have the strength to make a decision,” she emphasized.
Horvat’s view of the future is a long one and, “as a general rule,” she’d like Convocation to “stay ahead of issues rather than react to them.”
“COVID is one we couldn’t have seen coming. That came out of nowhere and we reacted to it in, I think, a very positive way, in a very competent way,” she said, noting however, that when issues arise “we tend to be reactive rather than proactive.”
“I would like to see us begin anticipating future issues and planning for how to address them and implement those plans. And that may be through the formation of something like a futures committee that a small group of benchers gets together and surveys the professions about what may be on the radar, what may be coming up,” she explained.
Philip Horgan, solo practitioner
“There seems to be a hesitancy to engage in open debate, in favour of allowing staff to develop policy. For example, I would revisit the disbanding of the Government Relations Committee, perhaps with a more nimble working group, to allow greater input from benchers on matters of legislative developments and policies. I think we should take advantage of the skills, talents and connections that benchers have with government officials, rather than leaving such matters exclusively to management. I stand for a robust role for benchers in our governance model,” he explained in an e-mail to The Lawyer’s Daily.
Horgan will also continue to “advocate for fiscal prudence,” as he noted “most licensees seek that the law society be cost-effective.”
“I have served on the Audit & Finance Committee for the past three years. During my time, annual dues have been reduced in each of the past three years, from $2,201 in 2019 to $1,813 in 2022 for lawyers, a drop of 17.6 per cent. A comparable drop of 14 per cent was achieved in reductions of paralegal dues from $1,115 in 2019 to $955 in 2022,” he added, noting that he’s worked in “large and small firms,” and has managed his own practice for 26 years, so he is “sensitive to the demands of practitioners.”
Horgan noted that he was “active in developing the law society’s one-year dues deferral program in 2021, which provided assistance to licensees experiencing cashflow issues arising from the onset of the pandemic.”
“The law society should live within its means. Any policy development should be subject to budget oversight, with predictions on costing upfront, and with an after-the-fact report on expenses incurred, and costs saved. I will push for The Law Foundation to play a more active role in funding our libraries, a decision which it appears to have refrained from 2013 forward, despite the requirement of the Law Society Act that the Foundation support our libraries,” he stressed.
Horgan, who is a member of the Strategic Planning and Advisory Committee, Audit & Finance Committee and Tribunal Committee, is also keen to promote pro bono advocacy.
“Our pro bono offerings should be expanded where possible in other areas, such as with civil society organizations where possible. I believe the law society should recognize practitioners who perform this valuable work, in the public interest,” he said.
Like Horvat, Horgan wishes to bring the “long-standing debate” on the Family Law Service Providers Licence “to a conclusion through Convocation.”
“While there are many free or cost-sensitive programs already available for those seeking legal assistance in spousal separations, it is not a complete answer. A more active role for paralegals can be reached, if competing interests were mediated,” he explained.
Horgan is a past vice-chair of the Inter-jurisdictional Mobility Committee and the Professional Development & Competence Committee. His external appointments include being an executive member (and past president) of the Thomas More Lawyers’ Guild of Toronto and former executive with the Catholic Civil Rights League.
“I have a record of building bridges within Convocation, in order to achieve positive changes. I will continue to be approachable, including the creation of a Pandemic Recovery Working Group, to hear views of our stakeholders, to develop best practices from what we have learned, to serve both our licensees and the public interest,” he said.
Horvat’s external appointments include: second vice-president and Ontario representative on the Council of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada; a member of the Independent Advisory Board for Supreme Court of Canada Judicial Appointments; and she’s a past director of Library Co. Inc. and of the Ontario Judicial Education Network.
She noted that becoming a bencher is a “learning experience” and for her part, she didn’t feel comfortable in a leadership role until she had at least one term under her belt.
In her early years as a bencher, she broke from a task force she was on, along with two other benchers, and “presented to Convocation a minority report on articling.”
“The position we took in that report wasn’t exactly a popular one at the time. As a result of that experience, I’ve really understood how one can feel unheard and cast as an outsider. I’ve carried that through to my other committee work,” she said, noting that she respects debate and different viewpoints.
“I’ve always encouraged discussion of opposing views in the committee that I’ve been the chair of. I listen to people, and I believe that that’s one of the most important qualities that a leader can have,” she said, noting that she felt “unheard” in her first two years at Convocation.
“While I may hold personal views on various issues, I’m not afraid to admit when I’m wrong, and I’ll always keep an open mind and ear. I’ll always support the will of Convocation publicly, even if I don’t personally agree with the decision, where it’s in the best interest of the law society,” she explained.
Horvat also noted that in her “lengthy time as the chair of the Proceedings Authorization Committee,” she “saw everything, including those matters that are serious enough for conduct [hearing].”
“At that committee level you see every case that comes through. In my own view, every bencher should sit on that committee for at least a year because it is such an eye-opening experience. This is where I really saw those licensees who were struggling and who slipped through the cracks, and this is where I gained perspective and realized how much of a burden the law society can be on solo and small firm practices,” she said, noting this now informs her decision making at Convocation.
“It informs how I approach policy issues and the regulatory burdens that we place on licensees,” sh explained.
Horvat was one of the benchers left standing after the StopSOP slate swept the votes in the last bencher election. At that time, she was chair of the Technology Task Force and her work on bringing the Access to Innovation Sandbox to Convocation for approval “spanned over two benches,” ending up “with a completely new committee in 2019 after that election.”
“I had to bring one committee, made up of one set of personalities onside to the concept of the Sandbox,” she said, noting after the bencher election she had “an entirely new committee made up of entirely new people,” so she had to start the work all over again. The Sandbox was approved by Convocation, and Horvat said she was proud of how the initiative was implemented.
Technological advancement is also important to Horgan who noted that “we have learned through the pandemic that business, media and the court system have all adapted to technological changes.”
“Those changes will continue. Our role will also need to adapt to this changing environment in the years ahead,” he said, noting that the law society has “introduced a Technology Sandbox,” and “approved a reworking of our IT infrastructure, to replace outdated systems.”
“The law society needs to be at the forefront of taking advantage of technological advances,” he stressed.
Another issue of importantce to Horgan is practice training and professional conduct.
“While law schools may not be terribly receptive to suggestions from the regulator, I believe that law students are interested in becoming better acquainted with practice training and professional conduct. Programs at Lakehead and Toronto Metropolitan have shown that there is room for better preparation for the careers that await most graduates. The law society can provide that leadership, especially given that we remain the route of entry for licensees who wish to practise,” he said, noting that “the recent exam scandal may be a learning point not merely for our testing program, but a teaching moment to remind candidates that integrity of character is a prerequisite for the practice of law.”
“How is one motivated to cheat on an entrance exam, when integrity is at the core of our profession?” he asked.
Horgan also noted that he was “originally elected to Convocation on a platform to stop the law society from imposing ideological mission creep into our independent bar.”
“I remain concerned about the politicization of what should be a neutral regulator, that has specific, legislated core functions,” he said, noting that it was his “motion that brought the end to the mandatory check-off of the Statement of Principles as a requirement” in the annual report.
Horgan explained that the Statement of Principles was one of 13 recommendations in the Challenges Facing Racialized Licensees: Final Report (Challenges Report), noting that “in that context there are other elements of which we’re already seeing pause.”
“There was a suggestion from those recommendations to develop an Inclusion Index. But as of the last month, the Inclusion Index work that has been undertaken over the past 4-5 years … has effectively been shelved because we brought in other statistics and survey experts to give advice to the Equity and Indigenous Affairs Committee, and they said there are some serious flaws in the methodology. So as a result, there’s an example of hopefully bringing reasonable, rational assessments of some of these, quite frankly, political orientations and saying, in effect, let’s be sure we’re working in the interests of … an independent bar,” he said in an interview with The Lawyer’s Daily.
Like Horvat, Horgan also noted the need for open debate at Convocation.
“Convocation has been a place where debate seems to be avoided, in favour of dealing with contentious issues through committee work, or by deferring to management. In fact, one recommendation in the past year (not pursued) was to reduce the current number of Convocation meetings. I am of the view that Convocation is a place for open debate, and for disagreements to be mediated through open discussion. Convocation can still be efficient, while allowing a fulsome exchange of views,” he said, noting that “the ongoing impacts of the pandemic, and any future developments which may arise, have a way of changing plans, such that some flexibility is always in demand.”
When asked why she was running for treasurer for a second time, Horvat said, “quite honestly, I love the law society.”
“I know that sounds a bit cheesy, but I do,” she added, noting that this is the last and best way she can give back to the profession as a bencher.
“I’ll be termed out next year, so I won’t be running [as a bencher] in 2023,” she explained, adding that she thought “long and hard” about running again.
“While I have a ton of respect for Malcolm Mercer and we got along throughout that campaign and we got along after … it was really hard to lose. It was a levelling experience for me. But I thought long and hard about putting myself through it again, and I think I have the right temperament and right leadership skills for the current group of benchers. As I said, I’m not afraid to admit when I’m wrong, I always keep an open mind and an open ear and I welcome opposing views and I like to listen to what people have to say,” she said.
When asked the same question, Horgan said, “the law society, within the operation of our justice system, is a component of our constitutional matrix. While lawyers and paralegals often serve as agents of the government, the law society also stands for an independent bar, to provide a framework for the pursuit of justice in the public interest, and to serve society with diligence, integrity and courage.”
“It was that need for the maintenance of an independent bar that prompted me to run to become a bencher. That work remains at the forefront of my interest. I am passionate about our work. Regulating licensees, and on occasion having to discipline bad actors, is at the core of what we do. But most of all, it is a place where our notions of liberal pluralism are discussed and engaged, in the public interest,” he added, noting that he comes from “a family where service of the public interest and volunteerism were valued and promoted.”
“I am hopeful that my fellow benchers will support my candidacy,” he said.
The new treasurer will take office at Convocation on June 28.
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