Law Society of Alberta Board Member Vacancies
With the appointment of the Honourable Judge Sony Ahluwalia to the Alberta Court of Justice, and the anticipated Bencher vacancy created upon the expiry of the President’s term at the Feb. 27, 2025 Board meeting, the Law Society has opened applications to fill these vacancies.
To fill any vacancy, the Board follows the process outlined in Rule 17 of the Rules of the Law Society of Alberta. Rule 17 gives the Board two options to fill a vacancy: they may appoint from applications received, or they may appoint the candidate who received the next-most number of votes in the previous Bencher election (in this case, November 2023). In all instances, the Board considers both options when determining how they will fill the vacancy.
All active members of the Law Society in good standing may apply to fill a Bencher vacancy. The defined Bencher competencies are available on the Law Society website.
The online application is open until Friday, Sept. 13 at noon MT.
Before you Apply
Please review and update your information in the Lawyer Portal. The application will request information about your competencies and ask for a current CV. The CVs must be in PDF or DOCX format, and must not exceed two pages, 12-point font, and 1.1 line spacing. Please note that incomplete, late applications or applications not prepared as set out above will not be reviewed. It is the sole responsibility of the applicants to ensure their applications are complete in accordance with the above.
Applications will be assessed based on supplementing the existing skills at the Bencher table and the Law Society’s goals and objectives as outlined in the Strategic Plan. Applicants will be considered for the current open positions and applications will be kept for up to twelve months in the event of additional vacancies occurring.
The Bencher Role
Once chosen, the individuals will serve a two-year term until February 2027, unless they run and are elected in the November 2026 Bencher election. In this case, they would begin a three-year term in February 2027. Benchers can serve up to a maximum of nine years total.
The key responsibilities of a Bencher are governance (attending and participating in board and committee meetings) and adjudication (participating in regulatory hearings).
Benchers spend approximately 500 volunteer hours each year on Law Society work. Committee work is divided amongst the Benchers and external volunteers, and Benchers typically sit on several committees and/or task forces in any given year.
There are four Board meetings per year and an annual Budget Review meeting in November. All meetings are held in-person, in Calgary.
Committee meetings are typically held an average of five times each year and all meetings are held virtually. Mandatory education sessions related to the adjudication role of a Bencher are held several times per year.
Visit the Law Society of Alberta website for more information on the role of Benchers, the Board and Committees and the Strategic Plan.