Benchers lauded the new paralegal program and approved 2025 budget
Law Society of Ontario benchers voted at Thursday’s convocation to expand the scope of services paralegals can provide in family law matters and approve budget changes that will increase annual lawyer fees.
Brought by paralegal benchers Michelle Lomazzo and Paula Callaghan, the first motion concerned amendments to an LSO bylaw and the society’s code of conduct for paralegals.
The proposed changes impact the implementation of the Family Legal Service Provider initiative, which the law society approved in 2022 to allow licensed paralegals to provide certain legal services in family law matters. Fanshawe College will launch a training program for these paralegals in January.
The motion proposed expanding the types of services paralegals can provide after they train through the FLSP program. This expansion would allow them to prepare applications for name changes, file domestic contracts, argue motions to change child support in certain circumstances, and more.
The motion also proposed that paralegals meet certain requirements before they could provide family law services, including completing specialized training, registering with the LSO, and not being the subject of proceedings before the Law Society Tribunal.
Multiple benchers commended the FLSP program, with newly-minted member Lisa Bildy calling it a “very important initiative.” The benchers passed the motion with two abstentions.
Several motions on the law society’s 2025 budget also passed with no conflict. Benchers approved a motion approving the budget, which included returning a $200,000 surplus from the LSO’s compensation fund's paralegal pool to paralegals.
The motion also proposed increasing the annual fees for lawyers from $1,956 to $2,039 and for paralegals from $990 to $1,023. After applying the refund from the compensation fund surplus, the paralegal fees would go down to $996.
The higher fees are driven by operational costs, county law library operations, and the lawyer pool of the LSO’s compensation fund, which provides grants to members of the public when lawyers or paralegals misappropriate their trust money.
“The demand on this fund is uncontrollable and is dependent on the behaviour of our licensees,” said Sidney Troister, who presented the budget motions.
“Over the last few years… we have seen an increase in the dollar value and the number of claims because of the conduct of a small handful of lawyers,” Troister said. “That is the uncontrollable reality we face, and we have to have funds to deal with the claims. And this is just reality.”
Troister noted that despite increasing from 2024, the 2025 annual fee “is still $27 lower than the annual fee in 2020 despite five years of inflation, reasonable salary increases for staff, and the addition of approved programs.”
