In the spring of 2014 I wrote an article on Three Stream Articling. At the time I commented on how quickly the licencing landscape was changing. Over the last two years there has been little change in the number of candidates for professional licensing. Demand for articling positions in Alberta remains at an all-time high. My thinking two years ago was that:
This pressure (for articling positions) has necessarily resulted in regulators of the legal profession searching for creative ways to accommodate the increasing numbers of students. The creative thinking has been driven by a corporate desire to enhance access to justice by licensing as many qualified lawyers as may be reasonably admitted while still ensuring quality and professionalism.
The traditional option to obtain licencing in the legal profession in Canada has been to article. Although there are other options elsewhere in Canada, the only option in Alberta remains the traditional one. The Law Society of Alberta requires completion of a 12 month articling term and the successful completion of an education component (CPLED). “The CPLED Program is based on a national Competency Profile for an entry level practitioner. Students participating in the CPLED Program must demonstrate competency under three major categories: substantive legal knowledge, (possession of) skills and (ability to perform) tasks. Articling in Alberta may be completed with a traditional article or by a composite article.”
The composite article is exactly as the name suggests. “It is made up of a variety of practice settings that accumulate to fulfill the 12 month articling requirement in Alberta. They are an amalgamation of multiple short or long term articling positions.” A composite article contemplates multiple principals.
In Ontario there are three paths to lawyer licencing. Candidates may choose either articling, the Law Practice Program or the Integrated Practice Curriculum. The Law Practice Program consists of a four month training course and four month work placement. Students that complete the Integrated Practice Curriculum (Lakehead University) do not need to article and are eligible for licencing in Ontario as soon as they graduate from law school.
My thinking at the time that I wrote the original article was that creativity and innovation would come solely from the regulators. In fact, that has not been the case. True innovation has been a collaboration of the members of the bar, and academics in consultation with the regulators. A great example of such innovation is the University of Calgary Family Law Articling Students’ Incubator Project.
Over the past year or so, members of the local family law bar, the University of Calgary, the Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family and the Law Society of Alberta have been meeting to discuss and develop a plan for an incubator to provide law school graduates with a further alternative for articling.
Business Incubators are typically thought of as places or programs that are used to foster the growth and education of small business owners with the intent that the businesses mature and become self-sustaining after a period of time. Typically, business incubators supply both services (administration, consultation, referrals) and work space to the, as yet, undeveloped enterprise until the venture grows into a viable entity.
It is anticipated that The University of Calgary Family Law Articling Students’ Incubator will provide intensive family law training to a number of qualified articling students. The project will be proposing that students article under the guidance and tutelage of one highly qualified and motivated principal. Curricula and training will be developed for these students to ensure that each student obtains practical experience, training and mentoring in the following key competency areas as set out in the Alberta Law Society Education Plan:
- Ethics and Professionalism
- Practice Management
- Client Relationship Management
- Conducting Matters
- Adjudication/Alternative Dispute Resolution
The project innovators assume the incubator will run like a law firm and give the participants practical training in the business of law and practice management, as well as in the practice of family law. There may well be the opportunity for first year lawyers who have completed the program to stay with the incubator a further year.
The purposes of the incubator project are to:
- Provide pro bono and low bono services and increase access to legal services for low- and middle-income Albertans who earn too much to quality for legal aid yet cannot afford to retain private counsel;
- Introduce market pressure to lower some lawyers’ rates and thereby increase access to justice for Albertan’s not able to afford to hire counsel;
- Increase the number of lawyers practicing family law in Calgary and thereby increase access to justice for Albertans already able to retain counsel;
- To produce lawyers who are enthusiastically engaged in the practice of family law;
- To fill the void in articles for students wishing to practice family law in Calgary and thereby increase the number of family law lawyers practicing in Calgary;
- To become a centre of excellence and innovation in the practice of family law practice management and client relations, including alternative retainer structures; and,
- To become a hub of learning for the family law bar in Calgary.
The incubator is just one example of creative thinking that may become part of the new fabric of articling. Although little has changed regarding the pressure for articling positions, it is clear that the profession is stepping up to the plate to meet the challenge. Innovation and creativity will continue to be key values required in the struggle to meet the needs of new candidates and the profession.
Anthony Young, QC, is Counsel at Dunphy Best Blocksom LLP in Calgary, where he practices in the area of family law. In addition to his contributions to Law Matters, Anthony is also a Bencher for the Law Society of Alberta, and current Chair of the Alberta Law Foundation.