2023 LSO Bencher Elections
Learn about the candidates running for Bencher in Toronto. All candidates were sent a questionnaire. The table below highlights quick answers to a few of the questions, from those that responded.
By [clicking each name?**] you can see their full responses to all questions.
To learn about candidates running outside of Toronto, check FOLA’s website.
| Name | What county or district law associations are you a member of? | Will you support the Law Society maintaining its current level of funding for the Legal Information and Resource Network (LiRN), adjusted annually for inflation? | Do you support offloading funding for LiRN/law libraries to the Law Foundation of Ontario? | Will you advocate for Legal Aid Ontario (LAO) funding improvement and sustainability to ensure that being a Legal Aid-empaneled lawyer remains a viable area of practice for the private bar? | At the December 1, 2022 meeting of Convocation, it approved the Family Legal Service Provider (FLSP) license to allow paralegals who complete specified training to assist clients with certain family law services. The FLSP is to be reviewed in 3 years. Should paralegals’ scope of practice be expanded? | Lawyer licensees of the Law Society pay an annual competency levy as part of their annual fees that contributes towards LiRN, which funds courthouse libraries/practice resource centres. Would you support a requirement for paralegals to also pay an annual competency levy? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Adourian | Full Stop | ||||||
| Sean Aylward | Full Stop | ||||||
| Steve Benmor | Independent | Toronto | Yes | No | Yes | Yes, the Law Society should look for additional areas to expand paralegal scope of practice | Yes |
| Avy Ben-zvi | Independent | None | Yes | No | Yes | Yes, the Law Society should look for additional areas to expand paralegal scope of practice | Yes |
| Charles Boulakia | Independent | None | Yes | No | Yes | No, it should remain as it was prior to December 1, 2022 | Yes |
| D. Jared Brown | Full Stop | ||||||
| John Callaghan | Good Governance | ||||||
| Gerald Chan | Good Governance | ||||||
| Joseph Chiummiento | Full Stop | ||||||
| Michael Cochrane | Independent | ||||||
| Antoine Collins | Independent | ||||||
| Barry Corbin | Independent | ||||||
| Rebecca Durcan | Good Governance | Toronto | Yes | No | Yes | Yes, the Law Society should look for additional areas to expand paralegal scope of practice | Yes |
| Annamaria Enenajor | Good Governance | Toronto | Yes | No | Yes | It should be expanded no further than the FLSP | Yes |
| Jeremy Glick | Independent | None | Yes | No | Yes | Yes, the Law Society should look for additional areas to expand paralegal scope of practice | Yes |
| Sam Goldstein | Independent | Toronto | No | No | Yes | It should be expanded no further than the FLSP | Yes |
| Heather Hansen | Good Governance | ||||||
| Sukhi Hansra | Full Stop | ||||||
| Sayeh Hassan | Full Stop | Toronto | Yes | No | Yes | No, it should remain as it was prior to December 1, 2022 | No |
| Phil Horgan | Full Stop | ||||||
| Pam Hrick | Good Governance | ||||||
| Kara Johnson | Full Stop | ||||||
| Murray Klippenstein | Full Stop | ||||||
| Shalini Konanur | Good Governance | ||||||
| Howard Levitt | Full Stop | ||||||
| Atrisha Lewis | Good Governance | ||||||
| Richard Macklin | Independent | ||||||
| Will McDowell | Good Governance | ||||||
| Isfahan Merali | Good Governance | ||||||
| Jonathan Miller | Independent | Toronto | Yes | No | Yes | It should be expanded no further than the FLSP | Yes |
| David Milosevic | Independent | ||||||
| Mark Morris | Independent | ||||||
| Jonathan Odumeru | Independent | ||||||
| Angela Ogang | Independent | ||||||
| Mark Persaud | Independent | ||||||
| Jorge Pineda | Full Stop | ||||||
| Lubomir Poliacik | Full Stop | ||||||
| Geoff Pollock | Full Stop | ||||||
| Mark Quail | Full Stop | ||||||
| Maxwell Radway | Independent | ||||||
| Catherine Rhinelander | Good Governance | ||||||
| Jonathan Rosenthal | Good Governance | ||||||
| Stephen Rotstein | Good Governance | ||||||
| Caryma Sa’d | Independent | ||||||
| Elliot P. Saccucci | Independent | Toronto | Yes | No | Yes | Yes, the Law Society should look for additional areas to expand paralegal scope of practice | Yes |
| Chi-Kun Shi | Full Stop | ||||||
| Julia Shin Doi | Good Governance | ||||||
| Megan Shortreed | Good Governance | ||||||
| Mark Surchin | Good Governance | None | Yes | No | Yes | Yes, the Law Society should look for additional areas to expand paralegal scope of practice | Yes |
| Pamela Taylor | Full Stop | ||||||
| Sidney Troister, LSM | Good Governance | None | Yes | No | Yes | It should be expanded no further than the FLSP | No |
| Margaret Waddell | Good Governance | Toronto | Yes | No | Yes | It should be expanded no further than the FLSP | Yes |
| Tanya Walker | Good Governance | ||||||
| Peter Wardle | Good Governance | Toronto | Yes | No | Yes | It should be expanded no further than the FLSP | Yes |