Last week, I attended the Ontario Bar Association’s Priority PD program on the “New LSO (Law Society of Ontario) Client Contingency Planning Requirement”, chaired by Lisa Laredo and featuring speakers from the LSO, LawPRO, and private practice. Under amended LSO By-law 7.1 (effective January 1, 2025), all Ontario lawyers in private practice will be required to have a client contingency plan, to come into effect in the event that they should pass away or become mentally incapable of carrying on their work.

The purpose of the amended By-law is to enhance public protection, as it is advisable though not currently mandatory for lawyers to have a contingency plan. As we see in our practice, this can result in situations where a lawyer’s client is suddenly unrepresented, needs to find new counsel on an urgent basis, and, in some cases, misses court-ordered deadlines or limitation periods before the client even knows that their lawyer is no longer able to assist them.

While By-law 7.1 will be amended as of January 1, 2025, we understand from last week’s program that audits are unlikely until after the filing of lawyers’ 2025 annual reports in March 2026. That being said, it is important that lawyers who may not currently have a plan in place begin to consider steps to ensure compliance in 2025 and beyond.

Our firm has previously written and spoken about the importance of contingency planning for lawyers and highlighted some of the many resources available to lawyers who wish to put such plans into place. This week, I will revisit some of those resources, along with key considerations that lawyers may wish to consider when implementing or updating a contingency plan.

Thank you for reading,

Nick Esterbauer