Membership > Requirements

Interested in joining TLOMA?

We invite you to review the Requirements for Membership below.

Requirements for Membership

Membership in the Association is granted to eligible individuals only. Membership cannot be granted to an organization. An eligible individual is one who:

(a) Is employed by a private law firm, a legal service clinic, a corporate legal department, a university legal department, a government legal agency, a court system, a charitable legal agency or any other organization engaged primarily in the practice of law, collectively referred to as “a firm”; and

(b) Is employed in a position in which job duties are management responsibilities for one or more of the activities set out below and which forms part of this policy; and, is not a consultant or a Business Partner to an organization except as may be accepted hereunder;

(i) A person who is responsible in whole or in part for the development and execution of policy and/or strategy in a firm. A person may be responsible for directing, supervising or managing the activities of others, or may be a subject expert who is not accountable for the activities of others, but who has influence over them, directly or indirectly.

(ii) In a law firm setting, if not the lawyer manager, eligible individuals would generally report to a more senior manager, an Executive or Management Committee, or a lawyer, in his or her capacity as a management person in the firm. Eligible individuals would be engaged in management activities for the entirety of their working hours. Managers who work part time are eligible for TLOMA membership, provided they meet all other criteria.

(c) Is nominated by someone in a management position who is a current member of the Association.

There are four classes of membership in the Association:

Full Member

A Full Member is a member who has been admitted by the Board of Directors (hereinafter referred to as the “Board”) to the Association who meets the above-noted requirements of membership and is not in arrears with payment of membership dues.

Lawyer Member

This category of membership is available to lawyers who meet the following requirements of membership:

(a) is a sole practitioner, or a member of a firm with ten or less people (including lawyers and staff);

(b) is the sole TLOMA member for his or her firm; and

(c) is engaged in management duties for their firm a minimum of 10% of their time.

Privileges and Obligations of Lawyer Membership

Lawyer members are entitled to certain rights and privileges and are subject to the obligations of membership, which are:

(i) The right to receive notice and to attend all events of the Association;

(ii) The obligation to pay, when due, the membership dues set by the Board which are the same as a Full Member; and

(iii) The obligation to conform to the Policies and Procedures of the Association as set out herein.

A Lawyer Member is not entitled to vote or to be a member of the Board of Directors or a TLOMA Committee.

Policies governing the participation and the benefits accruing to a Lawyer Member shall be determined from time to time by the Board of Directors.

Life Member
This category of membership maintains the privileges of a Full Member and is restricted to former Full Members who:

(a) Have been a TLOMA member for at least 10 years;

(b) Have served for at least two years on the Board of the Association or have served the Association in some other equivalent way acceptable to the Board; and

(c) Has retired from law firm management.

The benefits of a Life Member are conditional as follows:

(a) Shall be suspended if the Life Member shall, at any time after ceasing to be employed in a law firm management role, engage in any of the following activities:

(i) Actively seeks out consulting assignments to law firms, legal departments and similar organizations; or

(ii) Actively seeks out consulting assignments to a business with the objective that advice will be given to help the business market its products or services to law firms, legal departments and similar organizations; or

(iii) Takes employment with an organization whose principal business is selling products or services to law firms; or

(iv) Takes employment with an organization who business includes selling products or services to law firms and the employment is principally in connection with sales to law firms.

Privileges shall not be suspended as a result of the Life Member engaging in:

(i) Any consulting role that, in the judgment of the Board is only an extension or variation of the Life Member’s immediately preceding employment with his or her law firm, for example, a post-retirement advisory role; or

(ii) Any other activity that has been fully disclosed to the Board and with respect to which the Board is satisfied that the Life Member’s privileges should not be affected; or

(iii) May be suspended at the discretion of the Board at any time for unacceptable circumstances.

Honorary Member

This category of membership is restricted to individuals who, while not qualified for life membership under any other criterion, are deemed by the Board to have made a significant contribution to the objectives of the Association in a manner that makes the award of an Honorary Membership appropriate. An Honorary Membership conveys no rights or obligations and may be awarded for any period and may be revoked by the Board at any time.

Privileges and Obligations of Membership

The privileges of membership in the Association vary with the category of membership, as follows:

(a) A Full member is entitled to all rights and privileges and is subject to the obligations of membership, which are:

The right to receive notice, and attend all events of the Association;
The right to seek election if requirements are met and, if elected, to serve as an officer, director or committee member of the Association;
The obligation to pay, when due, the membership dues set by the Board; and
The obligation to conform to the policies and procedures of the Association as set out herein; and
A Full Member who becomes unemployed, but in all other respects continues to satisfy the requirements of membership, may retain their Full Membership for a period of one year following the effective date of their unemployment without any further payment of fees.

(b) A Lawyer Member has the same rights and privileges of a Full Member excluding the right to vote or sit on the Board or a Committee.

Is not required to pay annual membership dues;
Has the same privileges as a Full Member in that they are able to attend all meetings at their own expense;
Is invited to the June Networking Event at their own expense;
Is invited as a guest of TLOMA to the December Networking Event;
Has access to the TLOMA website and may continue to receive the TLOMAToday newsletter as requested; and
May continue to attend the TLOMA Annual Conference at their own expense.

A Life Member may not present themselves for election to the Board or to an office in the Association. They do not have voting rights. The privileges of Life Membership may be suspended or terminated, at the discretion of the Board, for any Life Member who becomes a Business Partner, consultant or in some other way engages in activities inconsistent with membership in the Association.

(d) An Honorary Member may be invited to the Holiday Networking Event at the discretion of the Board as a guest of TLOMA. An Honorary Member is not entitled to any of the privileges of membership and is not required to pay membership dues.

(e) A Deceased Member - Bereavement notices or memorials of past members will be published in the Association Newsletter upon approval from the deceased member's family.