PDF version: Lawyers regulating lawyers?
Decision considered: Law Society of British Columbia v Laarakker Law Society of British Columbia Disciplinary Hearing Reports, September 21, 2011
Introduction
A disciplinary decision by the Law Society of British Columbia does not fall within the usual mandate of ABlawg. It is not an Alberta decision, nor even a judicial one, and has no direct precedential significance for Alberta lawyers or courts. The decision warrants comment, however, because the threat it creates to the legitimacy of lawyer self-regulation applies to all Canadian law societies. Specifically, the misdirection in regulatory energy reflected by the decision of the Law Society of British Columbia in this case is something to which all Canadian law societies have shown themselves to be susceptible.
This comment is a plea to the law societies to think more carefully about the cases they pursue; to take more seriously conduct by lawyers that undermines the rule of law; and, to allow lawyers to hold each other to account in circumstances where there is a reasonable basis to allege misconduct, even if lawyers sometimes do so with “incivility”. Law societies suggest that the public will lose faith in the legal profession if we do not treat each other with courtesy and civility, perhaps thinking that our own criticisms will make the public critical, and less able to access legal services even if they need them. I want to offer an alternative suggestion: the public will lose faith in us if we silence legitimate criticism and debate, and if we do nothing about lawyers who engage in conduct that could be reasonably characterized as extortion with letterhead.