Part One
In addition to the Law Society of Ontario’s Planning Licensee Checklist available on the Law Society’s website[i], below are some practical tips that I learned when attempting to craft my firm’s contingency plan as required by the Law Society of Ontario to ensure that it takes effect without issue and as intended:
1. When Building Your Plan Remember: Time is of the essence
One of the purposes of the contingency plan based on the report submitted by the Law Society Subcommittee to Convocation, was that if a lawyer died without a will or without a successor Law Society Trustee Services would be far too late to help that licensee’s clients. As a result, client matters fall between the cracks and clients would be prejudiced. Also, the Law Society Trustee Services would be operating with little or no information about the various files and obligations the licensee took on and would lead to bad situations. Thus, when formulating your plan, you want to protect your clients as much as possible. The only way to do this is to consider how quickly your Administrator can take the reigns if your plan needs to be sprung into action.
2. Your Office Manual: A Worthwhile Investment In Your Firm
As long as I can remember, the Law Society has recommended that law firms create an office manual. When I was a young lawyer and underwent the young lawyer practice management audit program from the Law Society, they recommended an office manual for my small firm of 3-5 people at the time. After drafting the office manual and using it in subsequent years for training of various staff, I can assure you that it is a worthwhile investment of your time. It streamlines training new staff. It ensures quality and consistency. It is also a handy project for your articling students or clerks, especially newer ones so that they learn the ins and outs of your business.
Having said that, for the purpose of contingency planning your written plan will have much of the same information as your office manual. For either document, the various codes, contact persons and the process in which to close and/or store files is by far the most important for your Administrator to know.
I would also highly recommend that you use the template for your written contingency plan on the Law Society’s website which is easy to modify and will keep you organized.
3. Think of Your Loved Ones: Prepare a Will and Power of Attorney For Your Law Practice and Professional Get Advice On It.
If you do not have a plan, think about how your loved ones will be if you are no longer able to manage your practice. If there is no plan in place or successor lawyer, your loved ones will be forced to try and pick up the pieces of your practice with likely no information. It is not a stretch to say that they will likely find this experience overwhelming, especially since they are already experiencing a family crisis.
The Law Society did not recommend that licensees complete a Power of Attorney or Will relating to their practice; however, in my view, a POA or a Will is a must to protect your client’s and support your loved ones and/or Administrator in managing your practice.
You should also consider what basic information your family members need to know, such as who the Administrator is and the location of your contingency plan, to help them avoid a stressful scavenger hunt.
It would also be wise to educate your Estate Trustee on their obligations in relation to winding up your practice and their duties in the sudden event of your incapacity or death as they may have no idea what they need to do.
Stay tuned next month for the next part in this ongoing series about the joys of contingency planning for your firm and how you can better protect your clients and loved ones from an unnecessary headache.
About the author
Andrew Sudano is the principal and owner of Sudano Law PC. He was the Chair of the YLD Central from 2016-2018. He practices family and child protection law. He can be found at www.sudanolaw.ca
[i] https://lawsocietyontario-dwd0dscmayfwh7bj.a01.azurefd.net/media/lso/media/lawyers/practice-supports-resources/planning-licensee-checklist-guidelines-for-appointing-administrator-and-developing-plan_en.pdf
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