Professors Amy Salyzyn and Richard Devlin (CALE/ACEJ President and Chair, respectively) have written a column that is now up at Slaw.ca which calls on the Canadian Judicial Council to adopt binding ethics rules (as opposed to just advisory guidelines) for federally-appointed judges in Canada.

Further to its initial feedback to the Canadian Judicial Council (CJC) regarding its review of the Ethical Principles for Judges (EPJs) (see here and here for previous correspondence), CALE/ACEJ has written to the CJC to provide feedback on the draft EPJs released on November 22, 2019.  Our letter, sent today, can be found here.

CALE member and Law Society of Ontario Treasurer Malcolm Mercer has a new column up at Slaw.ca that explores the self-regulation of the Canadian legal profession.

CALE Board member Noel Semple has written a column published on Slaw.ca which discusses a case involving judicial review of a lawyer’s fee.

CALE member Deanne Sowter has a new article up on SSRN. Abstract is below:

Abstract

Family violence creates ethical challenges for all family law lawyers, but it creates unique challenges for collaborative lawyers. Two of the tenets of collaborative practice are good faith and transparency. Two of the fundamental professional duties for lawyers are the duty of loyalty and the near-absolute obligation to keep client confidences. These ideas are at odds with each other, and the impact is problematic where there is family violence. This paper looks at the duties of loyalty and confidentiality, the contractual obligation in collaborative practice of full disclosure, and the presence of family violence. It looks specifically at the ethical challenges that arise when disclosing information pursuant to the collaborative practice participation agreement that create risk of harm for a spouse when there is family violence. Collaborative practice is still in its infancy in Canada, and without regulation, the options lawyers have when there are ethical challenges due to family violence are not conducive to meeting client interests, including promoting safety. Ultimately, this paper presents a solution in the form of collaborative practice legislation, amendments to the Model Code, and practice guidelines. The focus of the paper is collaborative practice, but some of this discussion is relevant to non-CP family lawyers as well, so where possible the recommendations are broad enough to include all family law lawyers.

The agenda for the 2019 CALE Annual General Meeting, which will be held on October 26, 2019 in Windsor, can be found here:  2019 AGM Agenda

An article now up on the Lawyer’s Daily website discusses the issue of retired Supreme Court of Canada judges returning to legal practice and contains commentary from CALE President Amy Salyzyn, CALE Vice-President Stephen Pitel and CALE member Gavin MacKenzie.

As previously noted, registration is open for the 2019 CALE Annual Conference, which will be hosted by Windsor Law, in Windsor Ontario, October 24-26, 2019. A detailed agenda has also now been posted.

For more details and to register, please go to this website.

CALE President Amy Salyzyn has written in Slaw.ca about the role that courts might play in facilitating lawyer wellness.