LAW Society of Upper Canada

For a description of all OFC-monitored developments for this profession for 2010, see the 2009-2010 Annual Report.

Applications to Practise as *Lawyers* Processed by the Law Society in 2010
Jan. 1 to Dec. 31	Jurisdiction Where Applicants Received Their Training					Total
Jan. 1 to Dec. 31	Ontario	Other Canadian Provinces	USA	Other International	Unknown	Total
New applications received	1,515	92	76	233	0	1,916
Applicants who became members	1,358	86	52	126	0	1,622

Applications to Practise as *Paralegals* Processed by the Law Society in 2010
Jan. 1 to Dec. 31	Jurisdiction Where Applicants Received Their Training					Total
Jan. 1 to Dec. 31	Ontario	Other Canadian Provinces	USA	Other International	Unknown	Total
New applications received	1,075	0	0	0	0	1,075
Applicants who became members	830	0	0	0	0	830

Fair Registration Practices (FRP) Report, 2009 (Lawyers)

Fair Registration Practices (FRP) Report, 2009 (Paralegals)

Audit Report

In a July 2009 guide to help regulators conduct reviews of their entry-to-practice requirements, the OFC drew attention to certain promising practices of the Law Society:

Articling: The Task Force of the Federation of Law Societies of Upper Canada recommended allowing candidates to apply for an exemption from the Articling Program if they have a common law degree and have practiced law in a common law jurisdiction, with 10 months or more of legal experience in a non-common-law jurisdiction. The Law Society adopted the recommendation. Exempted candidates must take the three-day course on professional conduct and practice in Ontario.

National Committee on Accreditation (NCA): The Federation of Law Societies of Canada made changes to the NCA, including the following:

moving from the University of Ottawa to help ensure objectivity
hiring new management and staff
reducing (to four) the number of standard challenge exams that all applicants must write and pass
completely revamping the NCA's website to explain more clearly the policies, processes and procedures of the NCA's requirements, evaluations and assessments

Paralegals: Applications to the paralegal profession increased from 333 in 2008 to 551 in 2009. Of these 551 applicants in 2009, 415 became members of the profession in 2009 – a one-year registration rate of 75 per cent.

This profession does not register internationally educated individuals, and 100 per cent of its membership increase in 2009 is attributed to Ontario applicants who became members.

For a description of all OFC-monitored developments for this profession for 2009, see the 2009-2010 Annual Report.

Applications to Practise as *Lawyers* Processed by the Law Society in 2009
Jan. 1 to Dec. 31	Jurisdiction Where Applicants Received Their Training					Total
Jan. 1 to Dec. 31	Ontario	Other Canadian Provinces	USA	Other International	Unknown	Total
New applications received	1,461	23	37	115	n/a	1,636
Applicants who became members	1,328	97	37	82	n/a	1,544

n/a = not available

Applications to Practise as *Paralegals* Processed by the Law Society in 2009
Jan. 1 to Dec. 31	Jurisdiction Where Applicants Received Their Training					Total
Jan. 1 to Dec. 31	Ontario	Other Canadian Provinces	USA	Other International	Unknown	Total
New applications received	551	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	551
Applicants who became members	415	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	415

n/a = not available

Fair Registration Practices (FRP) Report, 2008 (Lawyers)

Fair Registration Practices (FRP) Report, 2008 (Paralegals)

The OFC was invited to participate in the consultations of the Law Society's licensing and accreditation task force (see above), and provided written comments.

The task force recommended that the Law Society retain its 10-month articling requirement for all candidates except internationally trained candidates who had been called to the bar in a common law jurisdiction and who had at least 10 months of practice experience that addresses the society's articling competencies. The task force further recommended that these candidates still be required to complete an intensive three-day professional conduct course.

The task force also recommended the development of a new professional responsibility and practice course to be integrated with the articling program. The adoption of this recommendation will shorten the licensing process by four weeks for candidates who must meet the articling requirement, since it eliminates a separate, four-week course that all candidates were previously required to take before articling, if they could not demonstrate a minimum of seven years of practice in a common law jurisdiction.

Successful completion of the new professional responsibility and practice course, the articling requirement and the current licensing examinations make up the society's new requirements for admission to the bar.

The Law Society is also developing a voluntary bridging program for internationally trained lawyers.

In addition to those changes, the National Committee on Accreditation, the agency the Law Society relies on to assess the qualifications of internationally trained lawyers, is permitting applicants with common law LLB and/or JD degrees, who were assessed before March 1, 2009, to request a review of their file based on new rules for evaluating foreign common law programs. Only current and valid assessment decisions will be considered.

Applications to Practise as *Lawyers* Processed by the Law Society in 2008
Jan. 1 to Dec. 31	Jurisdiction Where Applicants Received Their Training					Total
Jan. 1 to Dec. 31	Ontario	Other Canadian Provinces	USA	Other International	Unknown	Total
New applications received	1,418	12	18	82	0	1,530
Applicants who became members	1,292	26	26	76	0	1,420

Applications to Practise as *Paralegals* Processed by the Law Society in 2008
Jan. 1 to Dec. 31	Jurisdiction Where Applicants Received Their Training					Total
Jan. 1 to Dec. 31	Ontario	Other Canadian Provinces	USA	Other International	Unknown	Total
New applications received	333	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	333
Applicants who became members	192	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	192

n/a = not available

During the fall and winter of 2007-2008, the OFC undertook a study of the Law Society to understand its 2007 registration practices and establish baseline data and information. PDF

Assessment Highlight