It’s not often I find unexpected good news in the Licensee Update emails our Law Society distributes to us, but today was that day.

Buried in an email to all licensees received this evening, I stumbled upon some happy news. I had tried to log on to the afternoon session of Convocation to hear the results of the in camera debate of the motion I brought at the AGM but by then for some reason I was blocked, which is fairly consistent with how the AGM itself played out for me.

As documented on this blog, I brought a motion last fall for disclosure of the costs associated with the salary increase of former CEO Diana Miles – what I call the CEOSS (CEO Salary Scandal pronounced “chaos”) – here is that entry

Today the LSO informed the profession that Convocation has decided to disclose this information and it has indeed done it!

The Law Society of Ontario surprised me, I have to confess, by voting to release the information I sought. This is a very positive development and one that is transparent and accountable to the profession. I commend Convocation for doing this.

You can Read the report here

I’ve added up the numbers and they come in at a few dollars shy of $550,000 ($549,945 to be exact) apart from the money that may have been paid to Diana Miles herself – in that regard only the salary that was approved without Convocation’s approval is noted in the Report, which was $936,800.

The Society also undertakes to commit to transparency regarding related costs going forward.

I have to confess nobody’s ever more shocked than me on those rare occasions I win anything, and this is a win for the profession. I am pleasantly surprised they’ve actually released these figures, which I continue to believe was the right thing to do.

In the end, it also serves the Society’s interest, because rather than having 77 thousand legal professionals guessing, the facts speak for themselves.

The total is less than I imagined it would be, most of this half million is the O’Connor Report (about $312 K) and the Leblanc governance review (about $135 K), as we knew it would be. The last hefty item is Hicks Morley’s legal fees (about $71 K) for unspecified services.

Here is the email we got:

Update on 2025 AGM motion

The Annual General Meeting (AGM) provides licensees with an important forum to raise issues and share their perspectives, and the Law Society values this engagement.

At the September 2025 AGM, a motion was successfully brought forward. Under the Law Society’s by-laws, AGM motions must be considered by Convocation within six months of the AGM.

In keeping with this requirement, at today’s meeting, Convocation considered, in camera, a report responding to the motion and approved its release. The report includes information prepared relevant to the issues raised in the motion related to the costs associated with the former CEO’s compensation and sets out clear information about the process followed.

This release follows the Law Society’s established practices for handling information that involves privacy, fairness and regulatory process requirements.

The Law Society remains committed to transparency and strengthening accountability and confidence of the public and the professions. Read the report.

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POSTSCRIPT – Perhaps parenthetically, I note I now stand undefeated in motioning our governing body at their Annual General Meetings. The first (and until now last) time I had done this was in 1994 and my motion then also passed. Back then I was agitating to stop the reprehensible practice of articling for free, mostly visited upon racialized and Internationally Trained Lawyers (ITLs). That one was ultimately implemented 30 years later, so I’m getting better at it. Or the Society is.

On my blog about that, among other things, here: