Sean Robichaud for Bencher

March 19, 2015

Vote for Sean Robichaud for Bencher in 2015:

Like many lawyers, I want to see change in our governance. The issues we face as lawyers in 2015 are more serious and permanent than ever before. We need benchers who are willing to go against the status quo, recalibrate the true needs of the public as it relates to lawyers, and adapt in our regulation of our members. My priorities include:

• Putting an end to the Alternative Business Structures initiative. It is my carefully considered view that private ownership of law firms and legal services leads to a long term diminishment and degradation of access to justice and quality of legal work. I will remain firm in opposing any measures to implement ABS.

• Entrench special categories of benchers to ensure diversity in representation, including a “recent call” category of bencher for those less than 10 years of call.

• A sustained effort to increase the reputation and worth of lawyers in Ontario. Our reputation of lawyers in Ontario is in serious decline. In the media, we are portrayed though anomalies of failure, rather than overwhelming trends of value and accomplishment. Our Law Society must educate the public on our value and role.

• Putting an end to the LPP program. Although well intentioned, this program is misguided. The Law Society should not be contributing to the problem of an over saturated legal market by creating programs that ensure every law student who graduate becomes a lawyer, nor does it assist to have non-LPP students subsidize this program.

• Mandatory certification for complex and specialized legal matters akin to the practice of medicine. It is absurd that technically speaking any lawyer in Ontario is qualified to practice any area of law no matter how complex or specialized it is. Leaving competence to the self-evaluation of lawyers and the diligence of clients is not enough. The Certified Specialist program could be built upon in this regard to achieve this goal. Further, the bar examinations could ask lawyers to take on particular focus and practice areas from the outset rather than the present mentality of jack-of-all-trades and expert-of-none.

• Increasing access to justice. This is an ongoing endeavor that the present Law Society already goes to considerable lengths to achieve. However, we can do more. In the end, access to justice is about access to lawyers.

General:

• Lead counsel, Robichaud’s Barristers & Solicitors
• Owner/Operator of King Law Chambers
• Certified Specialist in Criminal Law
• A. (Queen’s, 2001), LL.B. (Queen’s, 2004), LL.M. (Osgoode, 2012)
• Called to the Bar 2005

Past Activities and Accreditations:

• Director of the Criminal Lawyers’ Association
• Guest Speaker at the University Toronto (Law, Faculty of Geography)
• Guest Instructor Queen’s Trial Advocacy
• Toronto Lawyers Association (member)
• Ontario Bar Association (member)
• ESM Criminal Law Panel, Legal Aid Ontario
• Numerous CLE events speaker

Personal:

• Avid motorcyclist, photographer, and outdoor enthusiast.
• Father of twin four year-old boys.

Please visit www.robichaudlaw.ca for more details or follow me on Twitter: @seanrobichaud