Meet the Slate!
These 22 lawyers ran on a platform to eliminate the compelled Statement of Principles, known as StopSOP. They were elected with top votes from across the province and will serve the profession as benchers until 2023.
Their campaign was organized and led by the StopSOP Team, which included these non-bencher lawyers and paralegals and many others who helped in various capacities:
Lisa Bildy
Bruce Pardy
Michael Menear
Donald Kilpatrick
Bilal Bhatti
Sadie Etemad
Ian Wilkinson
BLP Law
Inclusion
I believe that all individuals, regardless of race, color, creed, ethnicity or sexual orientation should be entitled to practice law without fear of discrimination. The Statement of Principles obligation is based on excluding certain segments of society from the practice of law and compels our members to promote special interest groups over other members of society.
Technology
The practice of law is undergoing rapid changes. Clients are looking for lawyers to use more technology and deliver cheaper and more efficient legal services.
Innovation
Universities are graduating more students than traditional business models can accommodate. Mandatory retirement policies are forcing senior lawyers out of their existing partnership positions. The traditional LLP business model is not meeting the needs of our industry.
Over-Regulation
The past decade has seen a rise in special interest and social engineering policies in the Law Society which has resulted in over-regulation of our profession. Over-regulation increases operating costs for our members, stymies innovation and prevents the development of new business models that will improve access to justice. The Law Society should resist the tendency to regulate the business of law and restrict its activities to regulating the practice of law.
Education
Law schools produce excellent graduates that understand legal theories underlying the practice of law. However, they do not produce graduates that understand the business of law or the management of a legal practice.
As a Bencher I will:
- work to repeal the mandatory Statement of Principles;
- advocate for policies of inclusion for all and not exclusion based on special interest group biases;
- advocate for policies that promote increased use of technology in the practice of law;
- advocate for new and innovative business models that allow for new and experienced lawyers to discover creative ways provide legal services and improve access to justice;
- work to simplify the regulatory regime and reduce the number of social engineering policies that we have been subject to;
BLP LAW Professional Corporation, Founder & Principal
Sole Practitioner practicing corporate and securities law with a focus on corporate finance and securities transactions, exempt market financings and IPOs. Provide legal services to mining, tech and start-up companies.
Called to the Bar
Ontario – 2002
New York – 2003
Education
BA, LLB, (2000) MBA (2001) & LLM (2009)
Volunteer Activities
Member of the Securities Law Sub-Committee of the OBA and has served as a member of the Executive Boards of the Natural Resources Section and the Business Section of the OBA.
Securities Committee for the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada, Director and President of the Private Capital Markets Association, Director of the Toronto Business Development Centre.
