CASE EVALUATION

Case Evaluation

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Ontario Law Statistical Snapshot

Lawyer Data

55,360Total Number of licensed lawyers in Ontario in 20191
2,423New lawyers licensed in Ontario in 20192
37,900Number of licensed lawyers practicing law3
29,000Number of lawyers in private practice4
40-49Median age of Ontario lawyers5
$93,000Median salary of Ontario lawyers6
$2,334.58Annual LSO licensing fees (inc. HST)7
$175.00Annual licensing fees in NY State
$3,075.00Mandatory LawPro Insurance (including Innocent Party Premium, for lawyers in full time practice)
1.6Average number of billable hours collected by lawyers each day8
#75Rank on Canadian Business Top 100 Jobs 2019 report9

Lawyers to Members of the Population

YearOntario Population# Lawyers Licensed# of Ontario residents per Lawyer
201013,135,10042,166311.51
202014,745,04055,360266.35

Complaints & Claims Data

5,838Complaints made against lawyers to the Law Society10
4,379Complaints referred to Professional Regulation for additional investigation11
25%Percentage of (4,379) Complaints transferred for prosecution12
2,973Number of claims reported to LawPro
~20%Percentage of claims reported on which LawPro must pay out
$36,946Average cost per reported claim to LawPro13

Paralegal Data

9,470Total Number of licensed paralegals in Ontario in 201914
1,057New paralegals licensed in Ontario in 201915

Firm Size

1 lawyer8204
2 – 10 lawyers2678
11 or more lawyers288
Total11,17016

Articling Statistics

~2700Approximate number of Articling Candidates yearly17
10%Percentage of firms hiring Articling Students18
~250Number of Articling Candidates who fail to secure Articling positions by August/September19
~235Number of students enrolling annually in Ryerson and Ottawa’s Law Practice Program20
~80%Ryerson LPP Graduates employed in law related field 1 year post completion.20a
$83,000.00Average debt load of legal graduates upon graduation.20aa

Ontario Court Performance

Criminal14 months (median)21
Civil6-7 years 21a
Family12 months (53% within)21b
Court Budget$1,682,230,41421c
2021 Population14,755,211
Court Budget Per Capita$114.00

New York Court Performance

Criminal6 months21d
Civil~ 27 months21e
Family12 months21f
Court Budget$2,417,118,47221g
2021 Population20,215,751
Court Budget Per Capita$119.56

Florida Court Performance

Criminal6 months (median)21h
Civil18 months 21i
Family6 months21j
Court Budget$914,643,78121k
2021 Population 21,733,312
Court Budget Per Capita $42.08

California Court Performance

CriminalLess than 1 year (85%)21l
CivilLess than
2 years (85%)21m
FamilyLess than one year (82%)21n
Court Budget$4.1B21o
2021 Population39,924,926
Court Budget Per Capita$102.69

Judge Compensation

$314,100.00Salary for regular Justice of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice22a
$208,000.00 (USD)Salary for regular Justice of the NY State Supreme Court22b

Family Law

57%Proportion of family court litigants who are self-represented22c
13-26%Winning percentage of self represented litigants when against represented litigants22c
$15,118Average cost of a contested divorce (without Trial)22c
$19,833Average cost of a 2 day Family Law Trial22c
~$350Average hourly rate of counsel22c
~40-50Average (paid) lawyer hours per contested divorce (to first pre-trial)22d
~55Average additional (paid) lawyer hours per 2 day Family Trial

Regulator & Benchmarking

$139,438,800LSO's budgeted 2020 expenditures23
608LSO's 2020 Number of Full Time Equivalent Employees24
$75,581,6932019 Budget for the College of Physicians and Surgeons on Ontario25
315Number of full time employees at the College of Physicians and Surgeons
43,612Number of Physicians in Ontario26
$142,700,0002020 Taxation Revenue in the City of Oshawa27

LSO Cost Per Area of Operations

Number of Full Time Equivalent EmployeesTotal CostAverage Cost Per Employee
Governance Policy12.5$6,556,400524k
Administration125.5$28,554,800227k
Professional Development160.5$32,335,300201k
Professional Regulation229$44,520,600194k
Client & People Services81$11,452,400141k
Total28608.5$123,419,500~203k


[1] Annual Report 2019, Law Society of Ontario , pg. 4.[2] Id.[3] Id.[4] LawPro Report to Convocation, September 24 2020.[5] Annual Report 2019, Law Society of Ontario , pg. 23.[6] Canadian Business, Claire Brownell, Canada’s Best Jobs 2019: The Top 100 Jobs.[7] Law Society’s 2020 budget decreases annual fees for lawyers and paralegals  .[8] Clio Legal Trends Report 2018, pg. 11.[9] Canadian Business, Claire Brownell, Canada’s Best Jobs 2019: The Top 100 Jobs.[10] Annual Report 2019, Law Society of Ontario , pg. 33.[11] Annual Report 2019, Law Society of Ontario , pg. 33.[12] Annual Report 2019, Law Society of Ontario , pg. 35.[13] LawPro Report to Convocation, September 24 2020 pg. 12.[14] Annual Report 2019, Law Society of Ontario , pg. 4.[15] Id.[16] Annual Report 2019, Law Society of Ontario , pg. 29.[17] Annual Report 2019, Law Society of Ontario , pg. 31.[18] LSO to mandate pay for articling students.[19] Id.[20] Law Society of Ontario, Options for Lawyer Licensing A Consultation Paper, May 24, 2018 pg. 10.[20a] Ryerson’s Law Practice Program (LPP) Six Years of the LPP, October 2020[20aa] Law Grads’ Student Loan Burden is an Access-to-Justice Issue, The Canadian Bar Association, April 11, 2019.[21] Adult criminal court processing times, Canada, 2015/2016 in Superior Court .[21a] Ontario Civil Trial Statistics 2016 to 2019, Trial delays in personal injury disputes add insult to injury. Note civil trial times in BC are reported to be 2 years.[21b] Divorce and other family breakdown court cases, by time since initiation, selected provinces and territories, 2009/2010 .[21c] Expenditure Estimates for the Ministry of the Attorney General (2020-21) .[21d] New York State Unified Court System 2018 Annual Report.[21e] New York State Unified Court System 2018 Annual Report.[21f] New York State Unified Court System 2018 Annual Report.[21g] Unified Court System FY 2022 Budget Request [21h] Florida Rules of Judicial Administration .[21i] Florida Rules of Judicial Administration .[21j] Florida Rules of Judicial Administration .[21k] Court Funding & Budget.[21l] 2017 Statewide Caseload Trends, pg. 18[21m] 2017 Statewide Caseload Trends, pg. 18[21n] 2017 Statewide Caseload Trends, pg. 18[21o] Judicial Branch Budget Summary [22a] Judges Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. J-1.[22b] Salaries of NY State Supreme Court Justices Now on Par with Federal Court Judges[22c] Family Legal Services Review, Justice Bonkalo[22d] Legal Aid Tariff & Billing Handbook, pg. 159.[23] Audit & Finance Committee October 24, 2019 Report to Convocation, pg. 48.[24] Audit & Finance Committee October 24, 2019 Report to Convocation, pg. 50.[25] CSPO Annual Report 2019, pg. 45.[26] CSPO Annual Report 2019, pg. 2.[27] Oshawa 2020 Budget Overview and Summary Report, pg. 4.[28] Audit & Finance Committee October 24, 2019 Report to Convocation, pg. 49.

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