Estate Planning

In the spring, I blogged on the pending demise of the Law Society’s Certified Specialist Program, likely caused by there not being enough lawyers coveting the title.   I am happy to report that Convocation approved a proposal to continue and improve the Program (announced in the Fall/Winter 2007 issue of the Ontario Lawyers Gazette).

I understand the changes are designed to encourage increased lawyer participation and enhance accessibility and awareness.  The Program will reportedly operate as follows:

• Specialists will be entitled to include the credentials “C.S.” after their names.
• The number of CLE courses that specialists will be required to take has been reduced from 18 to 12 hours.
• The threshold for eligibility for certification is reduced to 30% of practice in that area.
• A lawyer will only be able to be certified in two specialty areas at any one time.
• Applicants must demonstrate that they have completed 36 hours of CLE related to the area of specialty in the three years prior to application. Previously, 90 hours of CLE over three years was required.
• As before, 50 hours of self-study in the specialty area per year in the three years prior to application are necessary.
• The Program will operate on a self-funding cost-recovery basis from fees generated by lawyers applying for certification and from renewal certifications.

For more information about the Program you should visit the Resource Centre on the Law Society website at: www.lsuc.on.ca

Have a good day,

Natalia