Beginning in early 2024, the Law Society will be conducting random reviews on some lawyers’ CPD plans to check whether lawyers are on track with their plans and to offer coaching to assist with implementation. Rule 67.2 requires lawyers to participate in the CPD plan review process.

Each month, lawyers will be randomly selected to have their simplified CPD plan reviewed by the Education department. The Education department will review the lawyer’s competencies, priorities and selected learning activities to ensure the lawyer has met the minimum requirements (the minimum number of competencies and learning activities) for filing a CPD plan. The Education department will also determine whether the lawyer has made any progress in completing the learning activities, with a view to providing coaching and support to the lawyer in progressing through their plan and priorities, at the lawyer’s request.

The competencies, type of learning activities and progress on learning activities are accessible to the Law Society Education department when conducting these reviews and when generating aggregate reports about plans. These reports will help us better understand trends and assess priorities for future resource development.

The competencies in the CPD Tool are aspirational and are presented along with a scale that indicates increasing levels of proficiency that lawyers can use to self-assess and create personal goals. These proficiency self-assessments and the notes that lawyers include in their CPD plans about their learning activities are not accessible to the Law Society.

Other Law Society departments do not have access to any plan information. Other departments that want to review a lawyer’s CPD plan will request that the lawyer produce a copy of their CPD plan that only contains the information accessible to the Education department. If, however, a lawyer discloses information that causes a regulatory concern or the lawyer fails to participate in the CPD plan review process, this information may be shared with other departments of the Law Society for regulatory purposes.