Vote Bob Tarantino for Bencher

April 9, 2015

In running for Bencher, my goal is enhancing accountability – of the Law Society to its members, but most importantly of the profession to the public.

I would appreciate your consideration (and your vote!). My campaign website, with my complete platform, is available at www.bob4bencher.ca.

I believe that accountability is and should be the guiding metric for Bencher decisions and the activities of the Law Society. I want to increase the accountability of the Law Society to the lawyers it regulates and the accountability of the profession to the public it serves. What does it mean to enhance the Law Society’s accountability? Here are some examples:

•  removing the $150,000 cap on payments from the Law Society’s victim compensation fund to victims of lawyer malfeasance
• moving towards an ethical infrastructure which includes regulating law firms and other providers of legal services (and not simply regulating lawyers)
• encouraging pro bono targets at large firms
• encouraging mentoring by enabling senior practitioners to satisfy CPD requirements by engaging in mentoring activities
• vigorously campaigning for increased government legal aid funding and increased government spending on new court resources
• implementing a program similar to British Columbia’s “Rural Education and Access to Lawyers” initiative to combat the “graying” of the rural and remote bar
• enhancing equity, access and diversity by adopting proven best practices from other jurisdictions (such as England and Wales’ Diversity Access Scheme and Diversity and Inclusion Charter)
• increasing the qualifying threshold for the Parental Leave Assistance Program so that more lawyers can access it, and automatically indexing the threshold and payout amounts to inflation

If you’re seeking a Bencher who will endeavour to improve the Law Society for the benefit of lawyers and the public, please cast your vote for me. I would also be deeply appreciative if you could advise your friends and colleagues of my candidacy and encourage them to vote.

Please visit my campaign website at www.bob4bencher.ca or follow me on Twitter @bobtarantino and use the hashtag #bob4bencher to join the conversation.