At their Dec. 8 meeting, benchers looked at recommendations from the law society’s access to justice advisory committee on LSBC rules on multidisciplinary practices (MDP) and its policy on alternative business structures (ABS), to look at whether a liberalization of the current approach to both might lead to improved access to legal services.
MDPs, which the law society has allowed since 2010, provide consumers who are looking for a wide range of professional services the advantage of “one-stop shopping,” as it allows for the co-location of legal practices with other services. An ABS is a business model that involves investment and ownership in law firms by people who are not lawyers.
The benchers voted to support in principle the relaxation of requirements that MDPs be majority owned and controlled by lawyers, subject to determination as to what safeguards are necessary to preserve lawyer independence, professionalism and ethics, and promote access to justice. It also supported in principle permitting ABS in British Columbia while looking at the same safeguards, and again promoting access.
Committee chair Jan Lindsay noted the recommendations are in principle and contain several caveats because more work is required to give them final form, but the committee thought it was important to get a general policy approved so the law society can proceed with additional processes.
“People often experience legal problems in concert with other issues they require help with, such as health issues, and must navigate a complex maze of services, retelling their stories and reliving trauma,” she said.
Benchers also adopted several recommendations from the fifth — and final — report from the law society’s mental health task force, which included a call to enhance the development of the law society’s well-being resources; create a set of tailored resources and communications that identify specific, practical strategies for overcoming the primary barriers to accessing support; and facilitate opportunities for lawyers to have greater time and means to address health issues by improving communications and resources in respect of existing options.
Chair Brook Greenberg said the recommendations build on the 2022 national study on wellness in the legal profession and help to ensure work on mental health issues continues in the law society after the task force winds up its duties.
“This bencher table has really moved the needle and changed the discussion within the profession on mental health and substance use issues in a way that benefits both the profession and the public that we serve,” he said.
The meeting was the final one for Christopher McPherson as law society president, as he passes the baton to Jeevyn Dhaliwal in January. Dhaliwal said she expects 2024 to be a challenging one for lawyers in British Columbia as the province moves to enact a single regulator for the legal professions in the province.
“An ethos that I hope will guide all of our work as we move into 2024 and beyond is that we will challenge old methodologies that are not as effective as they should be,” she said. “I would challenge and support each of my colleagues to look at what we do and how we do it to ensure that we are operating at the most effective and responsible way possible.”
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