The Law Society of Upper Canada keeps its name (not that it’s old-fashioned)
In what sounds like a truly stirring annual general meeting, the Law Society of Upper Canada decided this week to keep its old-timey name (so what if Upper Canada hasn’t been a geographic region for about 145 years and the name yields the acronym LSUC?). A few rebels had dared to suggest the society, founded in 1797, become the Ontario Law Society (or, even better: the League of Extraordinary Ontario Lawyers and Paralegals). According to the Toronto Star’s account, federal lawyer Tom Vincent unfurled a map of Ontario “with a purposeful flourish” to show that the historical boundaries of Upper Canada don’t represent the present region. Next, former treasurer Vern Krishna—who has a “well-trimmed, snow-white handlebar moustache and round spectacles”—argued passionately in favour of tradition. Ultimately, the deciding point was that the change would cost $1.5 million. An overwhelming majority defeated the motion—and then threw up their top hats and monocles and shouted huzzah! Well, that’s what we imagine, at least. [Toronto Star]
What next? To get rid of their courtly robes? Hmmmm…
They should have talked about lowering their FEES
Yes, why get rid of the name that gives it the abbreviation of LSUC, as in suck all the money out of our pockets like a pig at trough. I am a member of the NY state bar, too, and it’s 10 times less than Ontario. Literally, 10 times. $375 every two years (and it was only raised to $375 from $350 last year). That’s because they are an administrative body without fancy restaurants and ornate offices that required costly staff. What the NY bar can do with that amount that Ontario requires in multiples still baffles me. Luckily, practicing law is not what I want to do when I grow up.