Federation 101 – Intro to the Federation of Law Societies of Canada
In this session, the Federation CEO and the President will introduce the mandate and key priorities of the Federation and explain how it advances national regulatory work of the legal profession in the public interest, as well as the place of the Law Society of Yukon within the organization. Topics will include the Federation’s work on well-being, reconciliation, rules to fight money laundering, as well as its focus on ensuring that Canada’s legal profession is competent to practice regardless of whether training is acquired in Canada or abroad.
Presenters:
Jonathan G. Herman is the Chief Executive Officer of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. The Federation is the national coordinating body of the 14 provincial and territorial law societies that are mandated by statute to regulate Canada’s 134,000 lawyers, Quebec’s 4,200 notaries and Ontario’s 10,000 licensed paralegals in the public interest.
Appointed in 2006, he is the Federation’s first CEO following a major reform of the Federation and was responsible for establishing the organization’s national profile in Ottawa. He is a member of the Executive of the International Institute of Law Association Chief Executives (IILACE) and is an officer of the Bar Issues Commission of the International Bar Association.
From 2004-2006, Mr. Herman was Chief of Staff to Canada’s Minister of Justice and Attorney General. Until 2003, he was a partner in a Montreal law firm where he practised corporate and commercial law.
Mr. Herman is a graduate of McGill University, and also holds law degrees in civil law and common law from the Université de Sherbrooke and Dalhousie University. He has been a member of the Barreau du Québec since 1991.
Nicolas Plourde was nominated as a member of the Federation Council by the Barreau du Québec in 2018, after having been a member in 2013-2014. He is a partner in the Montréal boutique law firm Sarrazin Plourde, and is an accomplished litigator with more than 25 years of experience in civil and commercial litigation.
Mr. Plourde earned his law degree from the Université de Montréal and was admitted to the Québec Bar in 1993. In 1997, he became President of the Young Bar Association of Montréal (YBAM), an organization representing lawyers in the greater Montreal area with ten years of experience or less. In 2008, he served as a founding administrator and Treasurer of Pro Bono Québec, an organization offering free legal services in that province.
Nicolas also has extensive experience in the administrative and regulatory aspects of the legal profession. From 2008-2010, he chaired the Barreau’s Legal Aid Committee and in 2010, was appointed Chair of the Barreau’s Governance and Ethics Committee. In 2009, he was elected Bâtonnier of the Barreau de Montréal, and in 2012 became Bâtonnier of the Barreau du Québec.
Mr. Plourde is also involved in his community. He is currently the President of the Accueil Bonneau Foundation, an organization helping homeless people.
This CPD has been approved for 1.5 hours by the Law Society of British Columbia and may be applied towards the mandatory 12 hour Continuing Professional Development requirement in both BC and Yukon.