Business Plan And Budget Template Page 18

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Regulation
Core Activities:
This area consists of the following inter-related groups that work in close coordination to deliver
the core regulatory services of the Law Society designed to protect the public:
Membership
This group is responsible for the administration of various applications including students-at-law,
enrolment and reinstatement of members, the transfer of inter-jurisdictional members,
Professional Corporations and Limited Liability Partnerships. The Membership department also
manages inquiries regarding membership status and address changes, insurance changes, and
membership renewals. The bar admission program (CPLED) is funded through this department.
On an annual basis, this group of 10 employees processes renewals for approximately 9,000
active, 2,000 inactive and 6,000 insured lawyers. Over 450 applications for students-at-law are
handled by this group. In addition, the Membership department processes annual renewals for
about 2,700 Professional Corporations and 190 Limited Liability Partnerships.
Conduct
The conduct teams (Conduct, Investigations and Practice Review consisting of 31 staff) review,
resolve (where possible), and investigate complaints, refer to practice review where appropriate,
and prosecute as necessary. The Conduct team handles about 3,500 contacts annually from
the public, financial institutions, government departments, other regulatory bodies and lawyers.
The majority of the contacts received are resolved to the satisfaction of the complainant through
an informal process. This informal process includes Law Society staff providing information,
referral to other agencies, mediation or other alternate resolution services. Typically, 15%
(about 500) of these contacts relate to complaints that are serious enough to require formal
investigation and review by Law Society staff. Of these serious (or formal) complaints, about
10% (roughly 50) ultimately result in a conduct hearing.
Counsel
This department combines an active litigation role with corporate counsel responsibilities. With a
team of 9 staff and contract counsel, the Counsel department acts as litigators and counsel on
behalf of the Law Society for all types of internal hearings and appeals, including disciplinary
hearings. This department monitors challenges and threats to solicitor-client privilege and takes
targeted action.
Trust Safety
The purpose of the trust safety program is to support lawyers in the proper management of
client trust accounts and to mitigate the risk of lawyer misappropriation of client trust funds. In
2015, this group will consist of 17 employees and is supported by the investigative team in the
Conduct group.
Proposed 2015 Business Plan & Budget
Page 18 of 50

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Parent category: Business