President’s Message

A Year of Renewal, Challenges & Successes

The 2019-2020 Council year ends at the Society’s Annual General Meeting on June 13, 2020.

It has been a year of renewal, activity and unexpected challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Council began its year with adoption of a new three-year strategic plan. In support of its public interest mandate, Council adopted three Strategic Priorities:

• to regulate the delivery of legal services in a manner that is principled, proportionate and proactive;

• to ensure access to competent and ethical legal services for Nova Scotians; and

• to ensure Nova Scotians are served by an equitable, diverse and inclusive Society membership.

Council’s plan also set out objectives for achieving these priorities. Objectives related to areas including:

• increasing member and community engagement;

• exploring innovations in practice;

• providing education, support and accountability for advancing cultural competency and cultural proficiency among Society members; and

• supporting rural practice. 

Throughout the year, Council and Society staff worked hard to advance these strategic priorities and objectives. Here are some key highlights from 2019-2020:

Succession Planning

The Society's Legal Services Support (LSS) and the Law Office Management Standards Committee focused on succession planning including guidance on file retention and introduced a Succession Planning Toolkit. This toolkit provides practical guidance and templates for practitioners and firms with respect to file retention and planning for practice interruptions and wind-ups.

Management System for Ethical Legal Practice

In addition to the succession planning work, the Society’s LSS continued to roll out the Management System for Ethical Legal Practice self-assessment program. We worked directly with firms to support the development and evaluation of their systems at a firm level. This program will continue to roll out over the next two years.

Equity Lens Toolkit

The Society introduced the Equity Lens Toolkit, which provides guidance and recommendations for lawyers and firms on how they can ensure they are adopting equitable processes and practices while serving our clients, communities and colleagues.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission Working Group

The Society also continued to work with our Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Working Group to advance Calls to Action 27 and 28 from the TRC Report. This includes the provision of education sessions available at no cost to all members of the Society.

Continuing Professional Development

In 2020, we continued to develop ways to utilize technology to improve access to learning opportunities. Moving forward, we plan to offer webinars including a session to help lawyers and their staff spot red flags, as well as to guide practical responses, when faced with situations of possible money laundering. Written guidance for lawyers and firms related to money laundering is available on the Society’s website.

Bar Admission Program Changes

Significant changes were made to the bar admission program as the Society adopted an online bar admission training program, the Practice Readiness Education Program (PREP). PREP, administered by the Canadian Centre for Professional Legal Education, launches June 2020.

NSBS Website

The Society launched a new website with sections serving both the public and legal profession. This website will evolve as we continuously aim to provide members with user-friendly access to tools, practice resources and supports. 

Solo and Small Firms Working Group

Council provided direction to create a solo and small firms working group to provide advice and direction on addressing issues of concern to solo and small firms. If you are interested in participating as part of this working group, please contact Tilly Pillay QC at tpillay@nsbs.org.  

Council in the Community

Council continues to meet with community groups & members of the public at our Council in the Community events. At these meetings, Council provides insight into the Society’s role and into our equity and access work while hearing firsthand from community members. In November 2019, Council met in the community on Nov. 22 at the Halifax North Memorial Public Library in partnership with reachAbility.

Changes to the Model Code of Conduct

The Society continues to work with its partners in the justice system, including the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, on strategies to address concerns of disrespect, bullying and harassment. The FLSC Model Code working group released a Consultation Report including draft changes to the Model Code of Conduct addressing harassment.

We are also working on a number of initiatives related to this issue including review of our investigation and complaints management processes, establishment of a confidential support service for members, support for bystander training and recommendations for further activities based on the Society’s Gender Equity Committee’s recent survey.

COVID-19 Pandemic

Along with regular email updates, the Society created COVID-19 guidance to the profession on the Society’s website to support lawyers with the practice of law and delivery of legal services in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Recently the Society created a guide for lawyers to support them as they return to the office. Review the Lawyer’s Guide to Returning to the Office.

Council also established a Task Force to explore possible short and long-term options for support during the pandemic. Learn more.

I encourage you to access the confidential services of the Lawyers’ Assistance Program available to provide you, your staff and your families with support.

To learn more about all on the Society’s ongoing initiatives, I invite you to visit our website at nsbs.org, connect with us on Facebook or Twitter; review our Council meeting packages on the website or reach out to Council members or Society staff.

Council, now mid-term in its two-year mandate, will continue its work on the Strategic Goals, adapting to the changing circumstances of the pandemic. The public and members are well-served by a diverse, caring and focused Council who give considerable time and effort to making good decisions for the regulation of legal services in the public interest.

As President, I had the opportunity to interact and work with many of the Society’s staff members as well. I am grateful for their high-levels of professionalism, dedication and knowledge. Our profession is fortunate to have in place a staff that embodies and advances the Triple-P approach to regulation.

Thank you to all the Council members, Society staff, colleagues and community members who provided their time and their ideas to advancing the Society’s work this year.

Thank you for your graciousness and openness in sharing with me your challenges and ideas for solutions. I am humbled by the learning opportunities offered to me and the work I was able to be part of. I am grateful to our members for conducting themselves with professionalism and dedication to clients, acting in their best interests, especially during this pandemic.

It was an immense privilege to serve as the Society’s President.  I was consistently impressed with the generosity, adaptability, and desire to give back to our communities exhibited by members.

There have been numerous examples over the last few months of lawyers and justice system partners moving quickly to provide services to protect the interests of clients and members of the public while respecting public health directives.

There is, though, considerable work still to be done to improve the access to, and delivery of, legal services in Nova Scotia. The challenges posed by COVID-19 have highlighted issues of inequality, outdated infrastructure and the need for more innovative, client-focused solutions in our legal services and justice systems.

These issues align directly with the Society’s strategic priorities and the current pandemic presents opportunities for new ways of thinking and doing business. I am confident that the necessary knowledge, skill, and courage exist at the Society, within the membership and in the greater community to move forward to create an increasingly just and accessible justice system.  

Best wishes,

Society’s TRC Working Group 2019-2020 education sessions

The Society’s Truth and Reconciliation (TRC) Working Group makes recommendations to Council on a response to the TRC Calls to Action and supports our goal of embedding reconciliatory practice, equity and inclusion in our day-to-day work.

This group, created in 2018, also provides education for Nova Scotia’s legal profession on cultural competency, residential schools, Indigenous law and the realities of racism and discrimination.

In the fall of 2019 during Nova Scotia’s Mi’kmaq History Month, the TRC working group invited members to their first education session to learn and engage in a meaningful dialogue to begin the long-term journey toward reconciliation.

Over 50 members joined us for this impactful treaty education session featuring speaker Ashley Julian. This was an opportunity for members to learn about the Mi'kmaq, their inherent Aboriginal and Treaty rights, and our shared history.

The TRC working group coordinated another education session in February 2020 featuring speaker Donna Morris. This education session, presented to over 30 members both in person and via webinar, focused on he history, culture and the impacts of residential schools.

Moving forward, the group plans to host additional education sessions for members throughout 2020-2021. We encourage members to reach connect with the TRC Working Group to discuss the group's activities and with ideas on how to implement the TRC Calls to Action by contacting the Society's Equity & Access Manager Angela Simmonds at asimmonds@nsbs.org.

Society’s new Bar Admission Course PREP prepares students to meet the highest standards in legal practice.

This was a busy year for the Society’s Education & Credentials team as we moved forward with a new Bar Admission Program for new clerks starting articles in June 2020 and for clerks who began articles after November 1, 2019.

This new program, approved by Council in September 2019, brought about a major change as there will no longer be a bar examination once we have completely transitioned to this new program.

There are currently two components of the new bar admission program:

• Practice Readiness Education Program (PREP)

• Cultural Competence Workshop - a one-day workshop that will take place each year in July

The Society joins Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta in partnering with the Canadian Centre for Professional Legal Education (CPLED) to deliver the Practice Readiness Education Program (PREP).

Combined with articling, and legal education, PREP prepares students to meet the highest standards in legal practice. Articled Clerks can begin PREP as early as June 1, 2020. Learn more about the Society’s bar admission program.

NSBS Council hosted Council in the Community on Nov. 22 at the Halifax North Memorial Library.  Aside from giving members of the public insight into the operations of Council, the event, which was in partnership with reachAbility, was designed around promoting inclusion and accommodation within the legal profession.

“There are many barriers to accessing legal support and resources, especially for traditionally marginalized populations,” said Amanda Grinter, the ODE Coordinator for reachAbility. “Embracing inclusion and taking action toward equitable legal services ensures that all our citizens have the opportunity to congruent and just treatment.”

ODE, or, Opening Doors for Everyone represents Nova Scotia’s commitment to become a more inclusive province by 2030. Partnering with reachAbility on the program was one method the province is using to reach that goal.

As part of the Council meeting, Grinter gave an ODE presentation, and set up tables so members of council and the community

could dialogue over lunch. This event is perfectly in line with the vision that NSBS Council has laid out for the future.

“The Nova Scotia Barristers’ Society’s mandate is to act in the public interest,” explained President Carrie Ricker. “It is the Society’s role, and the strategic directions as established by Council, to ensure a diverse and inclusive membership is available to provide all Nova Scotians with access to competent and ethical legal services.

“In order to understand the challenges to accessing legal services faced by the public we serve, we must engage with our communities,” she continued. “We need to hear from members of the public with a variety of lived experiences. We need to be particularly open to hearing those from communities and groups who face specific challenges in accessing legal services to better understand those challenges and what role the Society can play in addressing those challenges.”

With that in mind, how does one increase inclusion in their practise and their office?

“One way of increasing inclusion is to become more accessible,” explained Grinter. “Firstly, it’s making sure their office/building is physically accessible for those with disabilities or mobility issues, and also ensuring that their space is close to bus routes. 

“Another way to be more accessible that is often overlooked is financial accessibility,” she continued. “Perhaps making subsidized considerations for services being accessed by lower-income populations. Or it’s about developing an awareness and understanding of different cultural norms that clients may present in terms of body language, gestures, facial expressions (e.g. eye contact, handshaking, etc.)”

More ways to increase inclusion could be having knowledge about trauma and mental illness, and creating safety for people; or partnering with community agencies that work with clients who often have a need for legal resources (e.g. reachAbility).

Ricker sees Council in the Community meetings as a critically important step for furthering the Society’s mandate of regulating in the public interest

“From this meeting, I took away information about the efforts taking place in Nova Scotia to ensure that our spaces and communities are accessible for all,” she said.  “I heard stories from community members about their challenges in accessing legal services. I took away learnings about the importance of language and how the everyday language we often take for granted can exclude those living with disabilities. I also took away the importance of continuing these conversations and turning these learnings into concrete actions in the future.”

Written by Kyle MacKay, NSBS Communications Coordinator

These monitoring reports, provided to the Society’s Council & included in Council Meeting Packages, provide an overview of the responsibilities & work of the Education & Credentials, Equity & Access and Professional Responsibility departments.

The Law Foundation of Nova Scotia was established in 1976 by amendment to the Barristers and Solicitors Act (now the Legal Profession Act. 2004, c. 28, s. 1.). Its central purpose is to receive and distribute interest earned on lawyers’ pooled trust accounts in accordance with its mandate. It is the only foundation in Nova Scotia devoted solely to community law related initiatives and legal education.

The objects of the Law Foundation are “to establish and maintain a fund to be used for the examination, research, revision and reform of and public access to the law, legal education, the administration of justice in the Province and other purposes incidental or conducive to or consequential upon the attainment of any such objects.”

The 2019 Annual General Meeting minutes will be approved at the 2020 AGM.