Category Archives: Ethics and the Legal Profession

A New Concord Between Bar and Academy? The Governor General’s Speech to the Canadian Bar Association

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It is hardly an everyday occurrence for a viceroy to call publicly for a meeting with law deans to talk about legal education. But that is exactly what happened last week in Halifax. In his speech to the annual conference of the Canadian Bar Association, Governor General David Johnston spoke extremely candidly about what he saw as the challenges facing the legal profession today. He did not mince words; the picture he painted of the reality of legal practice in Canada was not soothing. And he laid a stark challenge before all of us who claim to believe that lawyers are the key to the survival of the rule of law. Continue reading →

Unauthorized practice and access to justice

PDF version: Unauthorized practice and access to justice 

Case considered: Lameman v Alberta, 2011 ABQB 396

The Beaver Lake Cree Nation have commenced an action against the federal and provincial Crowns claiming that their treaty rights have been infringed by the Crown “taking up so much of their traditional territory that [they] have no meaningful right to hunt, trap or fish” (Lameman v Alberta, 2011 ABQB 396, para 12). The Crown brought applications to strike the Nation’s actions, the hearings in respect of which were adjourned on the basis of the Nation’s impecuniosity.

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Pleading Fairly

PDF version: Pleading Fairly 

Case considered: R. v. Nixon, 2011 SCC 34

Introduction

In its June 3, 2011 Throne Speech, the Canadian government announced its plan to introduce an omnibus crime bill. Based on the limited information provided in the Speech, it appears that this legislation will increase the sanctions for some crimes, and eliminate judicial discretion on some matters of criminal sentencing:

Our Government will move quickly to reintroduce comprehensive law-and-order legislation to combat crime and terrorism. These measures will protect children from sex offenders. They will eliminate house arrest and pardons for serious crimes. They will give law enforcement officials, courts and victims the legal tools they need to fight criminals and terrorists. Our Government will continue to protect the most vulnerable in society and work to prevent crime. It will propose tougher sentences for those who abuse seniors and will help at?risk youth avoid gangs and criminal activity. It will address the problem of violence against women and girls (Throne Speech, p. 12).

The Throne Speech emphasized that the purpose of this legislation would be to protect “the personal safety of our citizens” and to “place the interests of law-abiding citizens ahead of criminals” (Throne Speech, p. 12).

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Confidentiality and Context: Lawyers’ obligations of confidentiality and loyalty when acting in both lawyer and non-lawyer roles for a client

PDF version: Confidentiality and Context: Lawyers’ obligations of confidentiality and loyalty when acting in both lawyer and non-lawyer roles for a client 

Case considered: Kent v. Martin, 2011 ABQB 298

Lawyers owe clients a duty of confidentiality, and also a fiduciary obligation to act in furtherance of their clients’ legal interests. The duty of confidentiality and the duty of loyalty are related. Breach of a client’s confidences without the client’s consent obviously has the potential to undermine accomplishment of the client’s legal objectives. The ability of a client to repose confidence in her lawyer has been identified by the Supreme Court as important to permit the lawyer to provide “sound legal advice” to that client (Smith v. Jones [1999] S.C.J. No. 15 at para. 46).

The specific obligations arising from lawyer duties of confidentiality and loyalty can be complex, however, particularly when a lawyer acts in more than one capacity for a client, and where the client’s interests may be both legal and non-legal. A recent Alberta case highlights these issues.

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The Practice (not theory) of Avoiding Conflicts of Interest

PDF version: The Practice (not theory) of Avoiding Conflicts of Interest

Cases commented on: Novotny v. LePan, 2011 ABQB 205, R. v. Lewis, 2011 ABQB 227

As I have written about previously on this blog (e.g., here), the question of how disqualifying conflicts of interest should be identified has divided the profession and caused tension between it and the judiciary. The result has been not only dissensus, but also on occasion increasingly complicated ways of articulating when a conflict should be disqualifying, and when it should not be. The Canadian Bar Association’s Model Code of Professional Conduct, for example, has conflict of interest rules and commentaries that extend for some 27 pages (CBA Model Code).

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