BENCHER ELECTION PLATFORM (2023)

I was fortunate to receive tremendous support throughout my 2023 bencher candidacy, despite not being elected, and have decided to preserve my platform here, to memorialize the principles for which I stand. I intend to continue to advocate for prudent governance, physical and mental wellness supports, and the empowerment of students and junior lawyers.

I am a litigator and employment lawyer. Before law, I studied human health and conducted cancer research. 

I have represented a broad range of clients, from low-income individuals to massive national and international corporations. I have worked for one of Canada’s largest law firms, a mid-size firm, and a small firm. Now, I am a sole practitioner. These diverse experiences will allow me to approach the governance of our profession in a manner that supports the varied issues that members of our profession face.

Ongoing contribution to our profession is important to me, including mentoring junior lawyers and contributing to legal publications. I have written for textbooks, guest lectured, and provided news media commentary. 

I am on the board of the Employment Lawyers Association of Ontario because I believe that fostering collegiality supports lawyers’ mental health. For my own mental health, I foster dogs looking for forever homes. 

If you have any questions about me or my platform, you can reach me at 416-699-8112 or email me at maxwell@radwaylaw.ca

Friends and colleagues,

With a background in health studies and a practice built on workplace law, I understand that the well-being of professionals is contingent upon organizational health. This starts with minimizing burnout and encouraging honesty, integrity and collegiality.

If elected Law Society of Ontario Bencher, my mission is to promote lawyer well-being in the workplace as a crucial pillar of professional responsibility and comprehensive self-governance. This is vital because public confidence depends upon the health of the profession and, consequently, the health of our lawyers. 

Working within a variety of law firm sizes and structures has convinced me that lawyers are best empowered to act competently and courteously when practising in respectful environments that support their mental health.

I have observed the particular importance of supporting the health and development of students and junior lawyers, as they are disproportionately affected by working environments that encourage exhaustion, instil unethical practices, and permit palpable abuse. 

A well-nurtured lawyer is a competent and productive lawyer and a junior lawyer who learns, at an early stage, to act with honesty and integrity develops into a better colleague, better co-counsel and better opposing counsel. As such, we must develop programs to further address individual legal workplace challenges, as organizational health is a primary influential force upon a lawyer’s development, conduct and competence, at all career stages.

I ask for your vote to support me in promoting lawyer health and well-being as a fundamental guiding principle, while dedicating all of the time and effort required to perform the many obligations inherent in the role of Bencher.

Please review my comments below to see how I plan to effect this change and promote better professional regulation, further innovation, and access to justice. 

Maxwell 

A GOOD START

The Law Society of Ontario has already implemented excellent programming for lawyers and articling students who are in need of practice management advice, mentorship, and mental health support, including the Practice Management Helpline, the Coaching and Advisory Network and the Member Assistance Program.

However, there is more we can do to protect our members to ensure that the public has access to lawyers who are healthy, ethical and competent. 

Lawyers who feel their best are best equipped to serve the public. 

A SIGNIFICANT GAP

All of the current support programs require licensing candidates and licensees to identify a problem and proactively seek assistance, which is often a very daunting task for students and junior lawyers in particular, due to a variety of challenges:

• They might have fears of reprisal if they proactively report abuse or unethical behaviour
• They might not yet be aware of the existing services made available by the Law Society of Ontario
• They might fear the stigma of seeking out mental health supports
• They might not be able to identify the peculiarities of their workplace and the breaches of the Rules of Professional Conduct that are occurring therein 

FILLING THE GAP - HEALTHY LAWYERS, ACTING ETHICALLY

Problem workplaces are the exception, not the rule, but addressing problem workplaces is crucial to the health of the profession and the level of service we provide to the public. The well-being of all lawyers must be protected, and that begins with protecting licensing candidates and junior lawyers. I propose the following initiatives to ensure the public receives services from healthy lawyers, acting ethically.

LSO Articling Check-In

The Law Society of Ontario should initiate a comprehensive midterm check-in with our articling students to ensure that they are not being abused, being forced into unethical conduct, performing the work of a legal professional unsupervised, or otherwise engaged in an environment that does not adhere to the Rules of Professional Conduct. This can be accomplished through a simple inventory of questions, which could be administered by existing Law Society of Ontario employees, which may include lawyers staffed on the Practice Management Helpline.

Alternative Articling Arrangements

Articling students are vulnerable. By the time they commence their articles, they have already faced the tough path of obtaining admission into and completing law school. Then they are subject to the trials and tribulations of the licensing process, including the steep learning curve of legal practice. For many students, articling involves people-pleasing and overburdening themselves with work to ensure successful licensing and allow them the best chance to be hired back as a lawyer. These students understand the nearly non-existent marketability of an articling student seeking alternative articles and therefore might overlook abusive conduct, unethical practices and their own burnout, for fear they will become unlicensed or unemployable if they complain. 

As such, the Law Society of Ontario should be undertaking an initiative to place articling students who report breaches of the Rules of Professional Conduct with an alternative articling placement with the many members of our profession who would volunteer a placement in such compelling circumstances.

External Principals and Mentors for Students and Junior Lawyers

Articling students and lawyers in their first three years of practice should either be assigned an external principal or be automatically enrolled in the Law Society of Ontario's existing coaching and advisory network. They should not be forced to identify issues themselves and then proactively seek out advice and assistance. 

Annual Check-Ins for All Lawyers

Of course, it is not just licensing candidates and junior lawyers who may need additional priming to request support. An annual check-in should be implemented for all lawyers, which can occur easily and cost-effectively, through minor adjustments to annual reporting and appropriate follow-ups from the Law Society of Ontario with offers of support that are not mandatory for lawyers to accept.

Access to justice remains a major issue for Ontarians. Access to cost-effective legal services, and timely resolutions, are becoming the exception, when they should be the rule.

The Law Society of Ontario should be committed to facilitating:

• Low-cost legal services for low-income individuals (including through effective legal aid)
• Adequate access to legal advice in rural and remote areas through online tools
• Lawyer familiarity with ADR processes as an alternative to traditional litigation
• Simple online access for lawyers to law library resources, in addition to maintaining physical locations
• Streamlined civil, commercial, family and criminal procedures