CALE President Amy Salyzyn has a new column up at Slaw.ca on the question of whether Canadian law societies are well-positioned to address sexual harassment complaints brought against lawyers. You can check it out here.
Author Archives: amysalyzyn
New Scholarship: Advocacy in Non-Adversarial Family Law: A Recommendation for Revision to the Model Code
New scholarship from CALE member Deanne Sowter now up on SSRN!
Link here.
Abstract:
Family law is evolving towards non-adversarial dispute resolution processes. As a result, some family lawyers are representing clients who are trying to reach settlements that recognize their interests, instead of just pursuing their legal rights. By responding to the full spectrum of client needs, lawyers are required to behave differently than they do when they are representing a client in a traditional civil litigation file. They consider the emotional and financial consequences of relationship breakdown – things that are not typically within the purview of the family law lawyer. They objectively reality check with their client, and they approach interest-based negotiations in a client-centric way. These lawyers view their role as that of a non-adversarial advocate, and their client as a whole person with interests that are not just legal. This paper draws on an empirical study involving focus groups with family law lawyers, to argue that the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, Model Code of Professional Conduct, needs to be updated to incorporate non-adversarial advocacy. The lawyers in the study viewed non-adversarial advocacy as being responsive to client needs, and in the interest of the client’s children. This paper draws from the study to establish what constitutes non-adversarial advocacy and then it presents a proposal for revising Rule 5 (Advocacy) of the Model Code.
Collegial Reputation and Peer Rankings: An Invisible Hand?
Check out a new column up at Slaw.ca authored by Noel Semple and on the topic of collegial reputation and the potential role it can play in helping clients be better informed when hiring lawyers.
What Is the Mandate of the Law Society?
Malcolm Mercer’s latest Legal Ethics column on Slaw.ca provides a thoughtful exploration of the Law Society of Ontario’s mandate. Check it out here.
Cost Disease, the Practice of Law and Access to Justice
CALE member Malcolm Mercer’s November Slaw column can be found here.
Agenda for 2017 CALE AGM
The agenda for the 2017 CALE Annual General Meeting, which will be held on October 28, 2017 in Halifax, can be found here: 2017 AGM Agenda
Regulatory Developments in Ontario
Several significant motions passed at the Law Society of Upper Canada’s Convocation meeting today, including a motion dealing with a name change and a motion dealing with alternative business structures.
With respect to the name change, “Convocation voted overwhelmingly to change the Law Society’s name at its next meeting in November and to discontinue use of the words “Upper Canada.” For more details, see here. A lively debate on this issue that took place before today’s vote can also be found at on Slaw.ca here.
Regarding alternative business structures, “Convocation approved, in principle, a policy to permit lawyers and paralegals to provide legal services through civil society organizations (CSOs), such as charities and not-for-profit organizations.” For more details, see here.
New Legal Ethics Columns up at Slaw.ca
Two recent (and great!) columns from Malcolm Mercer and Alice Woolley, respectively:
CALE Conference Registration
The registration form for the 2017 Annual Canadian Association for Legal Ethics Conference to be held at Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University October 27 and 28, 2017 can now be found here
Personal Plight: Mending the Market
CALE member Noel Semple has a new column up at Slaw.ca addressing how regulators can assist in helping the market for personal plight legal services function better.
Canadian Association for Legal Ethics / Association canadienne pour l’éthique juridique 