I offer a breadth of practice experience that speaks to all members of the Bar: I have practiced in one the world’s largest law firms, in a mid-sized firm, as in-house counsel and now as a sole practitioner. I understand the concerns of lawyers in all these situations.
As a single father with custody of two children I also fully understand the competing pressures of family and practice.
F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “You don't write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say.”
Similarly, I am not running for Bencher because I want to do something.
I am running because I have something to do.
In the 20 years since my call to the bar I have seen a Law Society that has become increasingly disconnected from the average lawyer in this province. A Law Society that reacts at glacial pace, if at all, to matters of real importance to the day-to-day life of lawyers and the public. A Law Society that is obsessed with regulation and ring-fencing at the expense of innovation.
Such an attitude is no longer sustainable.
As Richard Susskind notes in The End of Lawyers, “Law was not created for the benefit of lawyers any more than illness was created for the benefit of the medical profession.” The Law Society can no longer operate on the notion that lawyers will always have the exclusive right to deliver legal services.
Now is the time for fresh new ideas and bold initiatives that address the changing legal landscape.
The Benchers that we elect in 2011 need to have a vision of the future of law. They need to be aware of and embrace legal innovation world-wide.
The Benchers that we elect in 2011 will be required to understand the Cloud, SaaS, LPOs, social media, value-based billing, alternative firm structures that allow for outside investment and many other innovations. Many legal governing bodies around the world are allowing new governance structures and service delivery models to the benefit of both the public and members of the profession. It is time for us to join them - or we risk being left even further behind than we already are.
My current practice is 90% value-based billing with very few files being billed on an hourly basis. My files are paperless. I will be moving my practice completely to the Cloud by year’s end with a SaaS element. I have worked with LPOs and I closely follow innovative ways to deliver legal services which I blog, tweet and write about. The fact that the American Bar Association is publishing my book on innovation in legal practice, The Profitable Law Firm, is a strong indication that my ideas are well thought-out and relevant.
But legal innovation is not the only reason I am running for Bencher.
My practical board experience with Ontario Realty Corporation (ORC) together with my ICD.D designation in corporate governance, have enhanced my natural drive for better, more efficient and more transparent entities.
Financial transparency is a particular problem at the Law Society; there is no reason why financial information should be hidden from members.
The Law Society has also shown little appetite for finding efficiencies within the organization in order to freeze or even lower annual dues. This needs to be a priority. Increases to annual dues should not be taken as cavalierly as they have in the past. All Law Society initiatives need to prove value for money.
The Law Society seems disinterested in reining costs at our own captive insurance company. As a result, premiums continue to rise.
The Law Society has also done very little to provide the public with quality, low cost legal representation; again, innovation, not regulation, is the key here.
Being elected Bencher is not in itself a personal goal of mine; it is merely a platform from which to effect needed change; a way for me to use my skill and knowledge to make the Law Society accountable to members and to ensure that our profession keeps step with the changing needs of society.
I ask for your vote.
Look for me on Facebook. Search: Kowalski for Bencher 2011
Follow me on Twitter on www.twitter.com/mekowalski
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