Bencher Murray Klippenstein
About Klippensteins
For decades Klippensteins was a small but growing team of smart and congenial progressive Toronto lawyers committed to access to justice, and calling itself “justice-centred”. See “Our Cases” and our “Practices Areas” for our types of work and some of our successes.
Then, in 2016, a strange kind of disaster struck. The Law Society of Ontario passed a radical requirement that every lawyer, every year, had to declare that they would live by and promote a certain political doctrine. After a year of agonizing, the firm’s principle Murray Klippenstein concluded that he could not practice as a member of a supposedly independent bar if the governing body of his profession was going to force him to annually sign a declaration of ideological commitment – no matter what its content.
KLIPPENSTEIN AWARDS
• “Class Action Team of the Year” – 2021 – Canadian Law Excellence Awards, for Good v. Toronto Police Services Board
• “Top 25 Most Influential Lawyer” – 2015 – Canadian Lawyer Magazine
• “Top 25 Most Influential Lawyer” – 2014 – Canadian Lawyer Magazine
• “Champion of Justice Award” – 2010 – Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto
• Social Justice Through Law Award – Osgoode Hall Law School – 2006
• Bob Borch Human Rights Award – Ontario Federation of Labour – 2005
Re-elect Klippenstein for Bencher in 2023
Why re-elect an incumbent Bencher who is suing the Law Society?
You may find it incredible that I as an incumbent Bencher am suing the Law Society. Why? And I dare to ask for your re-election vote?
I am asking the court for an order that the Society produce internal data and records that I need for my oversight duties as a Bencher and director of the Law Society corporation. The Law Society has the information but won’t give it to me. The information involves demonstrated fatal defects in studies purportedly underpinning major ongoing programmes, policies and expenditures that are having serious impacts on our membership.
These include far-reaching Equity, Diversity and Inclusion programmes that the Law Society has been enforcing on 70,000 Ontario licensees, based on statistical studies that claim to show a need for these highly intrusive and politically loaded “interventions”.
Read Klippenstein’s court affidavit about LSO’s refusal to provide him with key internal information:
• Abridged and Highlighted Affidavit (15 min read time)
• Full Affidavit with Exhibits
