Law Society to release audit report on workplace issues after redaction process

The Law Society announced on Thursday (Aug 20) that it will release the full audit report, which had uncovered workplace culture and governance issues, following a request from members during a closed-door dialogue. The council stated that the audit committee would release the report as soon as possible, provided that the confidentiality of interviewees was maintained and those facing allegations were given an opportunity to respond.

The interviewees were given until Sep 7 to request redactions before the report could be made available to members. No council member was part of the audit committee, which had appointed Senior Counsel Cavinder Bull to advise on the investigation. The council explained that interviews conducted by TSMP had been carried out under the assumption that responses would remain confidential and be used solely for the investigation, hence the inability to address a petition received two days prior to the dialogue on Aug 13.

Members were given until Aug 24 to redact their names from the TSMP report and transcripts, with the option to redact all or part of their transcripts. Interviewees would also be able to redact their responses, and their corresponding redactions would be made in the TSMP report. Members would have until Sep 7 to provide their responses.

If they did not, their statements would not be disclosed, as they had not waived the confidentiality promised to them. Individuals facing material allegations would be granted a right to respond if their allegations were not presented to them during the investigation. The audit committee report will be released as soon as practicable after this process is completed.