On June 14, 2016, the Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision in the above matter, dismissing Joseph Groia’s appeal relating to the Law Society Appeal Panel’s findings of professional misconduct against him in relation to his in-court conduct towards opposing counsel and finding, inter alia:

[241]  The requirement of professionalism for lawyers, both inside and outside a courtroom, including zealous advocacy accompanied by courtesy, civility and good faith dealings, secures the nobility of the profession in which lawyers in this province are privileged to practise.  The Appeal Panel concluded that this requirement was breached in this case.  This conclusion, in my opinion, was both reasonable and correct.

For some commentary on this decision, see this article in the Toronto Star, and this blog post by CALE member Tom Harrison.

An article in the Edmonton Journal by Paula Simons about a case involving a suspended lawyer seeking to act as a legal agent.

Today, the SCC released its decision in the above case wherein it held that the exception in the Income Tax Act allowing taxation authorities to demand accounting records from Quebec notaries and lawyers is both unreasonable and unconstitutional under s 8 of the Charter.

A story in Law Times this week that discusses a recent case raising issues of disclosure obligations and ethics surrounding litigation finance loans.

A new Slaw post by Amy Salyzyn discusses the risks and opportunities in using legal technology to enhance access to justice.

In his latest for the Legal Post, Mitch Kowalski observes:

So much has been happening in Canada’s legal innovation scene over the past three months that it makes me wonder if we’re finally at the tipping point of change in Canadian legal service delivery.

For the full article, see here.

A new blog post by Deanne Sowter provides some initial observations regarding her empirical research on the topic of ethics and professionalism in Family Law ADR.

As announced on the Law Society’s website:

“Convocation approved the development of detailed options for a compliance-based regulatory framework, as recommended by the Task Force on Compliance-Based Entity Regulation. The options will be the subject of focused consultation with lawyers and paralegals. Convocation also approved the Task Force’s recommendation to seek authority to regulate entities through amendments to the Law Society Act.  The recommendations are based on the Task Force’s study of the experience in other jurisdictions, its review of related research and comments received from lawyers, paralegals and legal organizations in response to a call for input.”

Full report available here.

Lee Akazaki writes about the above topic in a recent entry on his blog.