Good evening, everyone.

I am honoured to speak on what is truly an historic occasion – Pro Bono Law Ontario’s first conference.

Pro Bono Publico.

For the public good.

As Attorney General, it is my duty to always act for the public good, in the public interest.

As one court has explained, quote, “it is the exclusive right of the Attorney General to represent the public interest… it is not technical, not procedural, not fictional. It is constitutional.” End quote. (Nova Scotia v. Beaver et al, [1985} N.S.J. No. 485 at para. 30).

I take this responsibility seriously.

But in a way, every lawyer in this Province has the opportunity to be their own private Attorney General.

They can do so through pro bono work because collectively pro bono is not just for the public good, but also in the broader public interest.

I think that’s important to keep in mind. Those of you who are performing pro bono services are very much doing so for the public good.

You know, to borrow from John Adams, the U.S. president and one of the framers of the U.S. constitution, the true foundation of any society is a positive passion for the public good.

Many of you in this room tonight already display this positive passion. You are really doing, or supporting, essential work, work that is essential to the foundation of our society, and for that I congratulate you, the members of the profession, as well as the Law Society of Upper Canada, Pro Bono Law Ontario, and Legal Aid Ontario.

I want to do two things here tonight.

First, I am going to issue a challenge – a challenge to the profession, to assist me in achieving a continued cultural shift in the way law is practised in this province – a shift towards a pro bono culture. I will be asking members of the profession to rise to the occasion, in fulfillment of what amounts to a societal bargain, and do more in terms of pro bono work.

Secondly, I am going to tell you how the provincial government will do its part. I will tell you how our government and lawyers who represent the crown will lead by example and help to continue this shift in favour of even more pro bono work.

*****

Pro bono representation has a long history, probably dating back to the Magna Carta, and certainly to the ecclesiastical courts of thirteenth century England.

In the more recent past, pro bono work was a key part in the training of young lawyers.

Many people here started their legal careers the same way as Ian Scott or J.J. Robinette, with pro bono work.

J.J. Robinette made his very first court appearance as a young lawyer was a nonpaying criminal client, and eventually he got the reputation as “the counsel who couldn’t say no.”

Ian Scott mentions in his memoirs that as a young lawyer he would simply show up in criminal court and offer to represent anyone who needed a lawyer, for free.

As he said, it was quite literally a “captive audience.”

Of course, Scott and Robinette started practising in the pre-legal aid era.

As you know, Legal Aid formally came about in this province starting in 1967.

That’s when both the provincial government and the profession came to realize that providing legal services to low income people couldn’t continue as a charitable activity.

The modern Ontario Legal Aid Plan was set up in 1967, administered by the Law Society. This was succeeded in 1999 by an independent body – Legal Aid Ontario.

The establishment of legal aid in this province was a fundamental departure in terms of who has responsibility for delivery of legal services to those who can’t afford them.

But legal aid can only go so far. A large segment of the population are too poor to hire a lawyer, but not poor enough for legal aid.

This fact has profound consequences to access to justice.

It’s the great missing piece in our world-class justice system in Ontario.

We are addressing this gap.

An independent Legal Aid Ontario is critical to this task. Politicizing legal assistance is a recipe for impoverished legal aid.

Legalizing and regulating contingency fees is one small way the provincial government can assist.

In opposition, I proposed a bill that would allow for the charging of contingency fees, a bill that was largely adopted by the government of the day through its own bill. Then, if I may say, the Ontario Court of Appeal stole my thunder by legalizing the practise.

In December 2002, the Legislature unanimously passed amendments to the Solicitors Act to regulate contingency fee agreements and establish public protection standards.

We are now developing a regulation to support this legislation. A draft has been released and I thank all those who responded by the April 22 deadline. We are now considering the feedback.

Appropriately regulated, contingency fees would help enhance access to justice. We will ensure consumer interests are protected before proceeding with implementation.

So stay tuned.

But there is still a gap, and pro bono legal services can help fill that gap.

Now, I am of the view that pro bono activity is not a substitute for a properly funded legal aid system.

Let me be plain. Pro bono should complement, not replace, government-funded programs to ensure access to justice.

The purpose of Pro Bono Ontario’s programs is to enable lawyers to provide legal services in situations where legal aid is unavailable.

It is to complement Legal Aid, not to compete with it, and certainly not to replace it.

We all know our profession can and should do more.

You in the room are leaders, and I am not about to preach to the converted.

We can and should do more, for the public good.

Pro bono work is a return to the best virtues of times past of the profession.

Pro bono work embraces the core concept and meaning of what a true profession is, a profession that acts in the public interest. In other words, a calling, a pursuit of the higher good.

Lawyering is a true profession. That means that as professionals there is a quid pro quo – a societal bargain if you will.

The public gives lawyers a quasi-monopoly. That means the privilege of self-regulation, and soon for the regulation of legal services, and in exchange must help ensure the public interest. That is the bargain.

You know, when it comes to pro bono, we can learn from our American colleagues.

The American legal profession has an ingrained culture of pro bono. For decades state bar associations have set targets for pro bono work.

We need to better inculcate a culture of pro bono here in Canada. We need all players in the legal system to help recognize the value and the need for pro bono work. Chief Justice McMurtry has already shown tremendous leadership in this regard.

But we need to do more. Every lawyer and every law firm in this province needs to step up to the plate. And not just the generation of Scott and McMurtry, but also my generation of course, and those that follow.

The Law Society and the Ontario Bar Association have done much. But we can do more. For example, both can show leadership by setting targets for pro bono, helping to gather statistics, and spreading the word.

I am therefore issuing a challenge.

I am calling on the profession to re-ignite their passion for the public good through probono work.

Law firms must do everything possible to facilitate pro bono, especially for young lawyers entering the profession. They should not punish lawyers who do pro bono work by refusing to credit such work as billable hours.

I am calling on law firms to recognize pro bono work as billable work, in some fashion.

Several firms do this already and deserve praise. I am thinking about Oslers, McCarthys, Borden Ladner Gervais, Blakes and Gowlings, among others. If I have left you or your firm out, please forgive me. I’ll single you out in my next speech.

I hope that by the time next year's award ceremony takes place, this list has tripled or quadrupled.

Further, I call on all individual lawyers and law firms to set an annual target of five per cent of their billable hours to be devoted to pro bono work.

Finally, I call on large and medium sized firms to send young associates or even seasoned lawyers for secondment to legal aid clinics. Young lawyers will gain needed experience. Seasoned veterans will get a refreshing sabbatical. The public good would benefit in both cases.

The issue of court fees in pro bono cases is another area that we may look at. Lawyers may incur out-of-pocket expenses while representing clients without charge – an obvious barrier to pro bono participation. I’m willing to look at options for waiving, reducing or deferring court fees in pro bono matters.

The Ontario government must lead by example, and I recognize that. In effect, the largest law firm in the nation has 1,460 lawyers.

It’s called the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario.

Crown lawyers are highly skilled and highly experienced.

We will lead by example.

Today I am announcing the formation of a ministry pro bono task force, comprised of officials from my ministry and representatives of Pro Bono Ontario. In turn, my ministry will work with the associations representing Crown lawyers. This new task force is charged with finding innovative ways for these highly skilled and highly experienced crown lawyers to perform pro bono service.

There will of course be challenges as these lawyers are also public servants, and pro bono work they undertake must not create a real or perceived conflict of interest.

This would likely rule out pro bono involvement of government lawyers in both adversarial proceedings and in solicitor-client relationships.

But there is a huge role for crown lawyers to play. I want crown lawyers to be empowered to do pro bono work. There is also a willingness for us to do our part.

For example, there is a great demand for legal services in rural or northern communities.

Populations are scattered over wide areas, and incomes tend to be lower with less opportunity to access legal services.

We need to form urban to rural partnerships, using modern technology, to channel urban resources to rural or northern communities.

For example, I foresee that a crown lawyer could conduct public legal education on line or via videoconferencing, in areas of law that are relevant to the local community. I am thinking about areas such as wills, wrongful dismissal, or even board governance for charitable and non-profit organizations.

I want this new task force to examine these ideas and put them into action.

As for myself, I said off the top that I wanted to achieve a few things tonight.

I have expressed in no uncertain terms my commitment and my government’s commitment to pro bono work.

Next, I issued as call to the profession to fulfil their historic bargain with society and do more pro bono work.

Finally, I outlined how our government will lead by example in the area of pro bono work. I fully expect the new pro bono task force I announced tonight will seize the day and find new and innovative ways for government lawyers and private lawyers to work together in the area of pro bono work.

Pro bono services are coming into their own as a prominent feature of Ontario’s justice system.

All of us here tonight are enflamed with passion for the public good. Let all of us here tonight further stoke this passion and spread it to others – throughout the provincial government and throughout our profession.

Let’s work together and make good the promise of pro bono – pro bono publico --- for the public good.

Thank you.