Brown Bag Lunch – February 21, 2023

The February Brown Bag Lunch meeting began with an update from the moderator about the OBA Trusts and Estates Section’s response to the recent approval of Willful as the first participant in the Law Society of Ontario’s Access to Innovation Project. Willful will now have a two-year trial period to work towards an ongoing permit for legal services, which will be regulated by the LSO. This issue had been raised in previous Brown Bag Lunch meetings, with many BBLers having concerns and wanting to know what steps, if any, the OBA intended to take in this regard. It was clarified that although the OBA was involved in discussions regarding the construction and administration of the Access to Innovation Project, it was not involved in reviewing or approving applications by service providers to be selected for the program, nor was there an ability for the OBA to provide input at that stage. There will, however, be an opportunity for the OBA to provide input at the end of the two-year trial period, before the LSO makes any final decisions.