Law Society of Alberta Board Vacancy Update
To fill any Bencher 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). For candidates who want to be considered through the application process, please review the information set out below.
This is advance notice that on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024, applications will be accepted to fill two Law Society of Alberta Bencher vacancies effective Feb. 27, 2025. The deadline for applications is noon MT on Sept. 13, 2024.
How to Prepare
Review and update your information in the Lawyer Portal as required.
A CV is required that adheres to the following size and format requirements. CVs that do not meet these requirements will be not reviewed:
- Maximum two pages
- Use size 12 font
- 1.1 line spacing (minimum)
- PDF or Docx format
If you have questions, please contact Governance.
Background Information
The key responsibilities of a Bencher are: governance (attending and participating in board and committee meetings) and adjudication (participating in regulatory hearings).
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.
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.
The new Benchers will take office at the Feb. 27, 2025 Bencher meeting and will serve 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.