Canada’s Leading Expert
in Paralegal Regulation &
Professional Development

British Columbia’s Attorney General appoints Dr. Lisa Trabucco as Chair of the Regulated Paralegal Working Group: BC Government, News Release, “More options coming for people needing legal help” (10 April 2024)

About

Dr. Lisa Trabucco’s work spans regulation of the legal professions, with particular expertise in paralegal regulation, legal education and professional development. She has a wealth of experience in teaching and learning innovation, curriculum design, and professional development programming for legal professionals.

Dr. Trabucco’s research interests include the legal professions and professional regulation (of paralegals particularly), non-lawyer legal service provision, and access to justice. Her dissertation explored, through empirical research, Ontario, paralegal, regulatory scheme, paralegal, competence, and access to justice.

Services Offered

Advises government, law societies, regulators, and others on professional regulation
Provides expertise on regulation of paralegals and other legal paraprofessionals
Provides expertise on legal education and professional competence
Designs professional development continuing education for legal professionals
Facilitates change implementation

Expertise

Professional Regulation – Paralegals and other legal paraprofessionals
Professional Development & Competence
Legal Education – curriculum design & innovation, practical skills training, coaching
Facilitation

Professional Experience

Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Windsor 2017-2023
Assistant Dean, Professional Programs & Community Services, Faculty of Law, University of Windsor 2023-2025
Faculty, Academic Advisor, Paralegal Program, and Teaching & Learning Consultant, Sheridan College 2009-2017
Law Practice, 1993-2008

Education

PhD, Osgoode Hall, York University
LLM, Osgoode Hall, York University
LLB, University of Windsor Faculty of Law
Bachelor of Journalism (Honours), Carleton University

Engagements

In Progress

Chair, Regulated Paralegal Working Group, British Columbia – appointed by the Attorney General in April 2024 to lead the Group in recommending scope of practice for Regulated Paralegals, a new category of legal service providers in BC

Law Society of Ontario, Paralegal Future
Vision Working Group – external member
providing expertise on paralegal regulation
and competence and the sustainability of
Ontario’s paralegal profession

Subject-matter Expert, Paralegal
Education – retained to provide expert
opinion in ongoing litigation in Ontario

Member, Bachelor of Paralegal Studies
Program Advisory Committee, Humber
Polytechnic

Member, Paralegal Program Advisory
Committee, Durham College

Professional Engagements

Keynote speaker, Alberta Association of Professional Paralegals, Annual Conference, June 2023

Institute for Advancement of American Legal System (IAALS) – Allied Legal Professionals Convening (one of two Canadians invited) Nov 2022

Desk Reviewer, Durham College’s Proposed Bachelor of Paralegal and Honours Bachelor of Paralegal Degree Programs (submission to Ministry of Colleges and Universities), July 2021

Submission before House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, Re: College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants Act, clauses 291-300 of Bill C-97, An Act to Amend Certain Provisions of the Budget, 1st Session, 42nd Parliament, SC 2019, c 29, s 292 (Meeting No. 157), 7 May 2019

Participant – Professional Identity Training Workshop, Holloran Centre for Ethical Leadership in the Profession, St. Thomas University, Minneapolis, Minnesota (June 2019)

Testimonials

"As Co-Chair of the Law Society’s Paralegal Future Vision Working Group, I appreciate the valuable expertise and insight on paralegal regulation, education and competence that Dr. Trabucco brings to the table. In addition, I worked with Lisa in creating Windsor Law’s Professional Education Program Workplace Safety and Insurance Practice course. Her teaching expertise and practical experience combined with her research on the regulation of paralegals in Ontario were invaluable to the continuing education course. Lisa consistently demonstrates expertise in and a commitment to the legal professions and professional development.”

Michelle Lomazzo, Licensed Paralegal
Bencher, Law Society of Ontario
Co-Chair, LSO’s Paralegal Future Vision Working Group

Media & Publications

Guest, Billable Time podcast, 13 January 2026 - more details to come

Lisa Trabucco, “Paralegal Regulation in Ontario, Canada: A Northern Experience” (29 March 2023), online (blog): Institute for the Advancement of The American Legal System (IAALS)

Guest, National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP) podcast: The Long Wait for Family Paralegals in Ontario (March 2021)

Lisa Trabucco, Lawyers’ Monopoly? Think Again: The Reality of Non-Lawyer Legal Service Provision in Canada, 2018 96-3 Canadian Bar Review 460, 2018 CanLIIDocs 292

Lisa Trabucco, What Are We Waiting For? It’s Time to Regulate Paralegals in Canada, 2018 35 Windsor Yearbook of Access to Justice 149, 2018 CanLIIDocs 154,

Research Study – Paralegal Regulation and Competence (dissertation):
Trabucco, Lisa Danielle, "The Regulation of Paralegals in Ontario: Increased Access to Justice?" (2021). PhD Dissertations. 68

Canada’s Leading Expert in Paralegal Regulation & Professional Development