IBA Annual Conference Toronto 2025
2 Nov - 7 Nov 2025
Session information
Lawyering inside and outside the 'sandbox': Canadian and International trends
Wednesday 5 November (1115 - 1230)
Committee(s)
Alternative and New Law Business Structures Committee
(Lead)
Bar Issues Commission
Professional Ethics Committee
Description
As regulators in various jurisdictions continue to grapple with how and whether alternative business structures for delivery of legal services should be permitted, one solution in three Canadian provinces and one US state (so far) has been a form of pilot project, or "Sandbox". A Sandbox provides a limited exemption from the ordinary prohibitions on non-lawyer ownership and delivery but is it a solution? Is private equity investment an option, even with guardrails? Do ethical rules serve to protect the guild or consumers? This panel will explore the business and regulatory aspects of North American and other experiments and how they might impact integration and engagement of firms internationally.
Session / Workshop Chair(s)
| Professor Paul Paton KC | Chapman University Fowler School of Law, Orange, California, USA; Co-Chair, Alternative and New Law Business Structures Committee |
Speakers
| Milan Markovic | Texas AM University School of Law, Fort Worth, Texas, USA |
| Iain Miller | Kingsley Napley, London, England; Co-opted Member, BIC International Trade in Legal Services Committee |
| Shirin Mirsaeidi | Deloitte, Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Art Wilson | Law Society of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario, Canada |