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 2

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) 3

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 4

ADLS proposition It would be good public policy if non- lawyers were more generally entitled to deliver legal services, thus increasing the supply of legal services, and making legal services more accessible to all Albertans. 5

Evidence based decision making Ipsos surveys Public consumer survey Lawyer survey Non lawyer industry profile 6

Key Themes Most legal services to Albertans delivered by lawyers in sole practice or by firms of under ten lawyers (72%) 7

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%) 8

Satisfaction levels Overall opinion of lawyers 28% favourable 61% neutral 10% unfavourable Satisfaction with own lawyer 78% indicated satisfaction with lawyer service delivery 9

Impact of using a lawyer Better outcome – 72% No difference – 22% Worse outcome – 3% 10

Legal services delivered by non- lawyers 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%) 11

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 12

Future use of lawyer Legal action (77%) Crime incidents (74%) Wills/Estate (67%) Personal injury (66 %) Family relationship (63%) Real Estate ( 61%) Small business (40%) 13

Future use of non- lawyer Benefit problems (37%) Money/debt problems (37%) Housing (33%) Consumer problems (30%) 14

No assistance sought Consumer problems (65%) Money or debt (58%) Employment/job loss (53%) Land/housing (53%) Benefit problems (50%) 15

Reasons no assistance sought 38% - wanted to resolve themselves 38% - didn’t need help 35% - cost 13% - services not available in their price range 16

Cost COST is the top of mind barrier to legal services (56%) Cost differential not that much different between lawyers and non-lawyers ($350) 17

Law Society of Alberta © 2010 Ipsos Not for Circulation 18 Cost to Resolve the Issue - lawyer B8a. Approximately how much did it cost to resolve the...? Base: Outcome of the assistance received from a lawyer (n=381) Under $500 $500-$999 $1,000-$2,499 $2,500-$4,999 $5,000-$9,999 $10,000-$14,999 $15,000-$19,999 Don't Know Under $1,000: 37% More than $5,000: 9% $1,000 - $4,999: 29% Mean: $2,564.1

Law Society of Alberta © 2010 Ipsos Not for Circulation 19 Cost to Resolve the Issue – non-lawyer C8. Approximately how much did it cost to resolve the...? Base: Outcome of the assistance received (n=177) Under $500 $500-$999 $1,000-$2,499 $2,500-$4,999 $5,000-$9,999 $10,000-$14,999 More than $15,000 Don't Know Under $1,000: 41% More than $5,000: 7% $1,000 - $4,999: 11% Mean: $2,205

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 20

Satisfaction with cost of using a non-lawyer 88% equally satisfied with the cost of using a non-lawyer 21

Reason for using lawyer Lawyer best able to assist me Reason for using non-lawyer Believed lawyer would be too expensive 22

Low income Albertans Household income less than $50,000 experience the legal system differently 23

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 24

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 25

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 26

Self-represented litigants 71% of self-reps prefer to self-represent Would choose to self-rep in the future 27

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 28

Alberta’s Independent Non- Lawyer Legal Services Industry 29

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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 # 31

Independent Non-lawyer Delivery Growth in the Number of Independent Non-lawyer Legal Services Establishments by Establishment Size in Alberta 32

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 33

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Continued growth factors 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 37

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 & non- lawyers Most self-reps (71%) prefer to self-rep Low income Albertans have a different experience with the legal system 38

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 39

Discussion and Questions Alternate Delivery of Legal Services: Final Report – available at Contact information: Susan V.R. Billington, QC (403)