Paralegal election 2014: a major milestone

This month’s paralegal election marks a very important milestone for the profession, because it will be the first where all five successful candidates will become Law Society benchers — in addition to sitting as members of the Paralegal Standing Committee.

This year’s online election is the second to be held since the Law Society began regulating paralegals in 2007.

Since that time, the number of licensed paralegals has more than doubled to 6000, helping to pave the way for more accessible legal services throughout Ontario.

Given this significant growth — and the passion and energy that are evident throughout the paralegal profession — we hope to see healthy voter participation in this landmark election.

Eligible paralegal voters were sent voting instructions via email on March 12, 2014, the day that voting opened. The instructions included a control number to access the voting site.

I urge paralegals eligible to vote who may not have received voting information, or  who require assistance with Internet voting, to contact Computershare, the company hired by the Law Society to conduct the online election, at 1-866-301-2518 or 514-982-8711 (if outside Canada/US).

Information about all 25 paralegal bencher candidates is available in the Law Society’s Voting Guide.

If you’re an eligible voter, make sure you have a say in the future governance of your profession by casting your online ballots before voting closes at 5 p.m. on March 31, 2014.

Be sure to check the Gazette on April 1 for election results.