Law society says B.C.'s plan for new regulatory body could undermine lawyers' independence

The Law Society of B.C.is pushing back against the province's plans to set up a new regulatory body that brings lawyers, paralegals and notaries under one umbrella, saying it will affect the independence of lawyers from government.

The province says Bill 21, also known as the Legal Professions Act, will help make legal services more affordable by offering British Columbians the choice of hiring a lawyer, a notary public or a new designation called a regulated paralegal.

"We're giving more people more options and helping level the playing field for people trying to resolve their legal issues," B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma said in a statement.

The bill will amalgamate the Law Society of B.C.,which determines the scope of practice for lawyers, with the regulator for notaries public into a singleregulating body that will also include regulated paralegals.

Jeevyn Dhaliwal, president of the Law Society of B.C., says such a move poses a threat tolawyers' independence.

The Early Edition9:40Proposed new legal regulator impacts lawyer independence -- Law Society of B.C.

The Legal Professions Act aims to make legal services more affordable by creating a single legal regulator for lawyers, notaries and licensed paralegals. Law Society of B.C. president Jeevyn Dhaliwal says it impedes independence of lawyers from government.

"The fear is that by a stroke of a pen, the government can make regulations that would tell the regulator how lawyers should do their job," Dhaliwal told The Early Edition on Monday. "And [the public] should be very concerned about that, because lawyers are often the last defence."

TheB.C. branch of the Canadian Bar Association also opposes the bill, as does the Trial Lawyers Association of B.C., which says it ends the elected-lawyer majority that exists on the Law Society of B.C.'s board.

"Bill 21 is an enormous departure from the norms governing legal regulation in liberal, democratic societies," reads a statement from theTrial Lawyers Association of B.C.

In its statement, the province said the bill aims to give regulated paralegals independenceso they can assistmore people with their legal problems, and expand the scope of notaries public to cover more day-to-day legal matters.

The Society of Notaries Public in B.C. issued a statement in favour of the bill, saying it"has significant safeguards built in to protect client-solicitor privilege and the independence of lawyers."

"It maintains the independence of lawyers, appropriately expands the range of legal services provided by notaries, and provides for new legal service professionals, who will further the important task of meeting unmet and underserved needs for legal services,"Ron Usher, general counsel for the society, said in a statement.

The B.C. branch of the Canadian Bar Association opposes the bill, questioning the composition of the new regulator's board, which will include a mix of lawyers and non-lawyers.

The association says there will be nine lawyers on the 17-person board, giving them a narrow majority. Five of the lawyers will be elected and another four will be appointed, it says.

"To be independent, lawyers must be self-regulated with more than a slim majority of lawyers represented on the regulator's board," Scott Morishita, Canadian Bar Association B.C. president said in a statement. "And those lawyers must be elected, not appointed."

A statement from the law society says if Bill 21's "seriously flawed regulatory model" is passed, it will look to start litigation challenging the constitutionality of the act, and it expects other organizations, including the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, will join them.

"The independence of lawyers is inextricably entwined with the independence of their regulator," Dhaliwal said.