TORONTO, ON (PRWEB) February 20, 2015 -- Tax lawyer Paul DioGuardi has announced that he is standing as a candidate in the upcoming Law Society of Upper Canada 2015 Bencher Elections. Well-known for his bold advertising campaigns and entertaining tax books, Mr. DioGuardi believes that serious change is required within the Law Society, which serves as the regulator of the legal profession in Ontario, in order to improve the excellence of the practice of law and preserve lawyers’ privilege of self-governance.
Mr. DioGuardi, who has been a member of the Law Society for 49 years as of this April and has been awarded the distinction of “Queen’s Counsel,” explains that he wants to become a Bencher so that he can give voice to the needs of the small practitioner, who are too often overruled from the back rooms by scions of the large Bay Street firms.
“Across Ontario there are many thousands of lawyers practicing alone, or in independent firms. These lawyers are at the leading edge of changing conditions of practice. They deal with real people and their problems every day. They don’t have the luxury of huge corporate clients with fat wallets and lots of time to wait out the progress of a case through the courts at a snail’s pace,” says Mr. DioGuardi. “This front line interaction with the public gives the small practitioner insights that inspire innovation. Without innovation, we diminish the role of lawyers in the justice system, and in the community at large.”
Among the issues outlined in his election platform, which is available on http://www.pauldioguardiforlsucbencher.ca, Mr. DioGuardi proposes to establish an Ombudsman role so that all members, particularly those in small firms, will have a forum to present recommendations for policy review and other regulatory amendments to address changing conditions of practice. Ideally chosen from retired judges, this Ombudsman would have access to the Law Society Benchers and entrée to the inner sanctum where the real decisions appear to be made.
Paul DioGuardi’s voice may be a welcome breath of fresh air in the musty corridors and back rooms of Osgoode Hall. Certainly he is not short of words. He has authored three informative and entertaining books on tax and the Canada Revenue Agency, two with his son and practice colleague, Philippe DioGuardi. The third book, Never Smile At A Crocodile: Confessions of a Tax Traveller, has just been released by Dundurn Press, and is available in paperback and e-book in major bookstores and online.
Election as a Bencher seems a natural next step in a career that has taken Paul DioGuardi from inside the Head Office of the Canada Revenue Agency as tax counsel, to a role in the Department of Justice appearing as Counsel for the taxman. Thereafter he moved into private practice in downtown Ottawa, where his clientele has included major corporations and private individuals with tax troubles small and large. His law firm, DioGuardi Tax Law, has offices in Mississauga, downtown Toronto and downtown Ottawa.
Patricia Plant, DioGuardi Tax Law, http://www.dioguardi.ca, +1 416 822 2691, [email protected]
Share this article