The Professional Responsibility department has been operating at a rigorous pace over the last reporting period. The Professional Responsibility department was operating with one vacancy, until November when we were pleased to welcome a Professional Responsibility Counsel to our team.

Across almost all law societies in Canada, Professional Responsibility departments have been indicating an increase in the number and complexity of investigations. Another key trend across the country is an increase in the weaponization of complaints processes, or the misuse of the complaints process in an effort to achieve a personal or political advantage. This ultimately ties-up law societies’ resources while they investigate baseless complaints. This trend is something that our department is monitoring and has been addressing on a case-by-case basis, however we are mindful that if this worsens, we will need to adopt a more robust plan to ensure that we are dedicating our resources to advancing the public interest.

The Complaints Investigation Committee (CIC) has also had a significant increase in workload as they have been working through backlogged cases. This amount of work has been further compounded by the steady volume of complaints we have received that must be addressed at the Committee level. Still, the CIC managed the work before them by convening additional meetings to ensure that we are addressing these serious matters in a timely manner.

A significant change in the complaint process occurred when we transitioned away from our intake process and created an online, fillable complaints form. This change has given complainants a more streamlined avenue to file their complaints to our department through our webform. This process also automates part of the initial contact, allowing more resources to be dedicated to the processing of complaints. By implementing this form, we have been able to reduce our call volume significantly and address more issues once they have been formally received. In the coming year, it is our intention to update our online resources in an effort to better educate the public about our complaints process and the function we serve in the justice system. A key element to this is directing complaints that are outside of our jurisdiction to organizations who may be able to better address the concerns of the complainants.

Our team is also collaborating with other departments on the Innovation Sandbox Pilot Project. Our role in this project is to ensure that allowing applicants to work outside of our current regulatory framework does not impact our ability to protect the public. We look forward to working with our applicants to identify where we may be able to modernize and create a regulatory environment that reflects our changing industry and the legal needs of the public.

As we reflect on the past year, the Professional Responsibility department has performed well to keep pace with the current case load. We must also acknowledge that as our membership base grows, it is crucial to match our resources with the increased demand our department will bear. By committing our department to re-evaluating our processes and adjusting to the changing conditions that our profession operates within, we will ensure that we are able to continue meeting our mandate in the year ahead

Elaine Cumming

Director, Professional Responsibility