Transcript Law Society of Alberta

Legal Service Delivery in Alberta
Presentation to the
Pro Bono Roundtable
November 22, 2012
Susan V.R. Billington, QC
Law Society of Alberta
• Independent regulator of lawyers in
Alberta, Canada
• Approximately 8700 active lawyers
– 5300 in private practice of law
– 3400 in-house/government lawyers
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Access to Justice
• Access to Legal Services Steering
Committee – Minister of Justice Alison
Redford QC
• Terms of Reference – April 2009
– Alternate Delivery of Legal Services (Law Society
of Alberta)
– Limited Scope retainers (Alberta Justice)
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ADLS Terminology
• ADLS - provision of legal services by persons other
than lawyers
• “paralegals” – under the supervision of a lawyer – law
firm paralegals – BC model
• “non-lawyer agents” -unsupervised non-lawyers
offering legal services to the public for a fee –– LSUC
paralegal regulatory model
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ADLS proposition
It would be good public policy if nonlawyers were more generally entitled to
deliver legal services, thus increasing the
supply of legal services, and making legal
services more accessible to all Albertans.
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Evidence based decision making
• Ipsos surveys
• Public consumer survey
• Lawyer survey
• Non lawyer industry profile
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Key Themes
• Most legal services to Albertans
delivered by lawyers in sole practice or
by firms of under ten lawyers (72%)
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Range of legal services by
lawyers
•
•
•
•
•
real estate transactions (84%)
wills and estates (78%)
family relationship problems (59%)
small business issues (54%)
Other include: legal action (47%), personal injury
(46%),crime incidents(40%), immigration (35%),
property damage (27%), discrimination (25%),
employment (19%)
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Satisfaction levels
Overall opinion of lawyers
• 28% favourable
• 61% neutral
• 10% unfavourable
Satisfaction with own lawyer
• 78% indicated satisfaction with lawyer service
delivery
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Impact of using a lawyer
• Better outcome – 72%
• No difference – 22%
• Worse outcome – 3%
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Legal services delivered by nonlawyers
• Albertans have found good value and are
almost as happy (69%)
• Services delivered by non-lawyers are lower
complexity and lower risk services (Housing
(45%), Property damage/insurance (40%)
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Use of lawyer in future
• Most would rather have services of a lawyer
for those matters that are perceived to be
more complex and higher risk to them
• 90% indicated they would be likely to hire a
lawyer when faced with a legal problem in
the future
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Future use of lawyer
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•
•
•
•
•
•
Legal action (77%)
Crime incidents (74%)
Wills/Estate (67%)
Personal injury (66 %)
Family relationship (63%)
Real Estate ( 61%)
Small business (40%)
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Future use of non- lawyer
•
•
•
•
Benefit problems (37%)
Money/debt problems (37%)
Housing (33%)
Consumer problems (30%)
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No assistance sought
•
•
•
•
•
Consumer problems (65%)
Money or debt (58%)
Employment/job loss (53%)
Land/housing (53%)
Benefit problems (50%)
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Reasons no assistance sought
•
•
•
•
38% - wanted to resolve themselves
38% - didn’t need help
35% - cost
13% - services not available in their
price range
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Cost
• COST is the top of mind barrier to legal
services (56%)
• Cost differential not that much different
between lawyers and non-lawyers
($350)
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Cost to Resolve the Issue - lawyer
23%
Under $500
Under $1,000:
37%
15%
$500-$999
20%
$1,000-$2,499
$1,000 - $4,999:
29%
$2,500-$4,999
4%
$10,000-$14,999
2%
$15,000-$19,999
2%
Don't Know
Mean:
$2,564.1
More than $5,000:
9%
25%
© 2010 Ipsos
$5,000-$9,999
9%
B8a. Approximately how much did it cost to resolve the ...?
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Law Society of Alberta
Base: Outcome of the assistance received from a lawyer (n=381)
Not for Circulation
Cost to Resolve the Issue – non-lawyer
34%
Under $500
Under $1,000:
41%
$500-$999
8%
$1,000-$2,499
8%
$1,000 - $4,999:
11%
$5,000-$9,999
$10,000-$14,999
More than $15,000
3%
Mean:
$2,205
2%
1%
More than $5,000:
7%
4%
Don't Know
40%
© 2010 Ipsos
$2,500-$4,999
C8. Approximately how much did it cost to resolve the ...?
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Law Society of Alberta
Base: Outcome of the assistance received (n=177)
Not for Circulation
Satisfaction with cost of using a
lawyer
• 87% - cost of service clearly
communicated
• 89% - cost close to that quoted
• 91% found a good cost value in
services delivered by lawyers
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Satisfaction with cost of using a
non-lawyer
• 88% equally satisfied with the cost of
using a non-lawyer
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Reason for using lawyer
• Lawyer best able to assist me
Reason for using non-lawyer
• Believed lawyer would be too
expensive
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Low income Albertans
• Household income less than $50,000
experience the legal system differently
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Low income more likely to:
• Experience almost all the issues listed,
except real estate and wills/estates
• Have been involved in a court proceeding
• Think a lawyer could have helped them
• Think the result was unfair
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Lawyers providing access – pro
bono
• 54% of lawyers provide pro bono services
• 74% of lawyers outside Edmonton and
Calgary
• 2011 – 186, 746 pro bono hours reported by
Alberta lawyers = approx. $50M in legal
services
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Lawyers providing access
• 86% - provide services on a reduced fees
basis
• 20% - Legal Aid Alberta
• Limited scope retainers:
– 62% identified as a method of reducing legal
costs
– 56% provide services on a limited scope retainer
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Self-represented litigants
• 71% of self-reps prefer to self-represent
• Would choose to self-rep in the future
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Knowledge of law and legal issues
• 75% - no training in law and legal issues
• 7% did not know if they had!
• 70% thought they were knowledgeable
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Alberta’s Independent NonLawyer Legal Services Industry
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Independent Non-Lawyer Industry
Profile
• Exponential growth
• Between 2000 & 2009 – 230%
• Estimated 545 establishments & 900
individuals
• Most per capita in Canada, second only
to ON in #
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Independent Non-lawyer Delivery
Growth in the Number of Independent Non-lawyer Legal Services
Establishments
by Establishment Size 2000-2009 in Alberta
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Non-Lawyer Industry Profile
• Lack of education, training & licensing
• Public misperception about regulation
• Wide range of services offered: incorporations,
divorce, traffic, tribunal agents, debt collection
• Lack of client protections- no insurance/assurance
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Continued growth factors
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•
•
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Snowballing growth over last decade
New technologies
Self-employment
Alberta’s reputation as an attractive place for
non-lawyers to do business
• No clear definition of the practice of Law
• Latent demand for legal services
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Conclusions on legal service
delivery
• High degree of public satisfaction with both lawyers
& non-lawyers
• Most legal services provided to individual Albertans
provided by solos & small firms
• Consumers know that lawyers are required for
complex or higher risk matters
• No much cost differential between lawyers & nonlawyers
• Most self-reps (71%) prefer to self-rep
• Low income Albertans have a different experience
with the legal system
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Recommendations
• Definition on the Practice of Law will assist in
consumer choice & delineation of legal services
• Supervised non-lawyer legal service delivery
(supervised paralegals) can increase access to legal
services for low income Albertans
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Discussion and Questions
• Alternate Delivery of Legal Services: Final Report –
available at www.lawsociety.ab.ca
• Contact information:
Susan V.R. Billington, QC
[email protected]
(403) 229-4705
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