Thomas Conway has been elected treasurer of the Law Society of Upper Canada. Conway will begin his term following Convocation proceedings on June 28 and will serve as the law society’s top elected official.
He will replace current law society treasurer Laurie Pawlitza, who has held the position since June 2010.
“I’m very humbled and honoured to be elected and I hope to continue the really great work of the treasurers before me,” Conway tells Legal Feeds. “I have big shoes to fill and I hope I am able to help ensure the law society meets its core responsibilities.”
While Conway says he doesn’t plan to make any drastic changes to the law society in his new role, he says he does hope to listen to the needs of Convocation and focus on key areas like articling and tribunal reform.
“I think this Convocation has been particularly vocal about wanting to focus on improving the law society’s commitment to its core responsibilities, particularly in light of these challenging economic times,” says Conway. “They want to ensure law society dues are spent judiciously and wisely and I intend to carry that forward.”
Conway is a partner at Cavanagh Williams Conway Baxter LLP in Ottawa where he practises civil and commercial litigation.
In the past, he has served as president of the Carleton County Law Association and an adjunct Faculty of Law professor at the University of Ottawa.
Conway was first elected as bencher of the law society in 2007 and has served as chairman of the professional development and competence committee and co-chairman of the retention of women in private practice working group. he is also chair of the law society’s articling task force.
Conway says he hopes to carry on the work of those initiatives in his new role.
“I certainly intend to continue the very important work of those programs and I will see them through to the end,” says Conway. “Certainly if the Articling Task Force makes recommendations and Convocation accepts them, I’ll be intent on ensuring articling reforms are implemented in a timely way.”
Conway was elected by acclamation and will be the law society’s 64th Treasurer.
Read more on this story in next week’s Law Times.
