The Law Society of Upper Canada’s Convocation has elected Janet Minor as its new treasurer.
“I am honoured and humbled to be elected by my fellow benchers to serve as treasurer of the law society,” said Minor.
“This is a very exciting time to lead the law society, as we deal with the challenges and opportunities of globalization, technology and demographic change, while striving to make legal services more accessible and the profession more inclusive.”
Minor, the 65th treasurer of LSUC, replaces Tom Conway, who congratulated her this morning on “winning the confidence of Convocation.”
“It comes as no surprise to me that you’ve been elected,” he told her. “You’ve earned the trust of everyone at the law society.”
Conway made an emotional final speech to Convocation before vacating the treasurer’s seat for Minor. He will now serve the law society as an emeritus bencher.
Minor, who was elected as a bencher in 2011, will leave her job as a general counsel in the constitutional law branch of Ontario’s Ministry of the Attorney General to take the law society’s highest office. She was elected by fellow benchers with 31 of 60 votes.
“As treasurer, I look forward to continuing to enhance public confidence in our regulatory processes and working collaboratively with our justice partners to identify and deliver concrete solutions to improve the public’s access to legal services,” said Minor.
Minor ran for the position against benchers Christopher Bredt and Raj Annad.
“This was a hard-fought but fair and civilized campaign,” said Minor.
After the vote, Bredt congratulated Minor, and said her “wisdom, candor, and hard work is appreciated by all.”
In a recent interview with
Law Times, Minor described her leadership style as “decisive but reflective.” She also said as a treasurer, she would push for a “proactive, not just reactive” regulatory system that does not wait for complaints against lawyers to take action. She also said she wanted to see more women and racial minorities within the law society’s governing body.
Minor led the law society’s Pathways project, which saw the introduction of the law practice program as an alternative to articling.
