A Dodek: Government Lawyers

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Adam Dodek, “Lawyering at the Intersection of Public Law and Legal Ethics: Government Lawyers as Custodians of the Rule of Law” (2010) 33 (1) Dalhousie Law Journal.

Abstract: Government lawyers are significant actors in the Canadian legal profession, yet they are largely ignored by regulators and by academic scholarship. The dominant view of lawyering fails to adequately capture the unique role of government lawyers. Government lawyers are different from other lawyers by virtue of their role in creating and upholding the rule of law. Continue reading →

Legal Ethics: Volume 13, Part 2, 2010

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LEGAL ETHICS

Volume 13. Part 2 of Legal Ethics is now published and includes some articles by Canadians:

“The Legitimate Concerns of Legal Ethics” and “Truth or Truthiness? A Modern Legal Ethics’ Understanding of the Lawyer and Her Community”:   Alice Woolley SSRN page click here

“Canada: Sex on the Internet and Fitness for Judicial Office”: Adam Dodek  SSRN page click here 

Please see below for full details.

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Canadian Judicial Council: update on Associate Chief Justice Lori Douglas

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Ottawa, 5 January 2011 – The Canadian Judicial Council gave an update today about two complaints made against Associate Chief Justice Lori Douglas of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Manitoba.

In accordance with the Complaints Procedures of the Council, a complaint made by Mr Alex Chapman was considered by the Vice-chairperson of the Judicial Conduct Committee of Council, the Honourable Neil Wittmann, Chief Justice of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta. The complaint alleges sexual harassment and discrimination on the part of the judge.  These are allegations only: no conclusions have been drawn so far about them.

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International Journal of the Legal Profession: Gov’t Legal Practice

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The deadline for submission: September 15, 2011

The International Journal of the Legal Profession invites manuscripts for a planned symposium issue on Government Legal Practice and Government Lawyers. We are particularly interested in papers dealing with lawyers occupying career positions in government service dealing with matters other than criminal prosecution or criminal defense. We welcome studies dealing with a wide range of issues including (but not limited to) the nature of the lawyers’ work, their career patterns, the ethical issues they confront, and/or how they balance professional norms in a political environment. Questions about the suitability of manuscripts can be directed either to the general editor, Professor Avrom Sherr (Avrom.Sherr@sas.ac.uk) at the Institute for Advanced Legal Studies, or the symposium editor, Professor Herbert Kritzer (kritzer@umn.edu) at the University of Minnesota Law School.  Submissions should be sent electronically, either as Word documents or as PDF documents (with all identifying information removed) to Professor Sherr. All manuscripts will be subject to the journal’s normal peer review process. The deadline for submission to insure consideration for the symposium is September 15, 2011; it is anticipated that the symposium will be published in the second issue of 2012.

International Legal Ethics Conference V: Alberta, Canada, July 2012

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Planning has already begun for the the fifth International Legal Ethics Conference scheduled for July 12 – 14, 2012, in Banff, Alberta, Canada.  For more information on the themes of the conference, click here.

The conference organizing committee is led by Professor Alice Woolley, Faculty of Law, University of Calgary  and Richard Devlin Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University.

Article: Ethical Lawyering Across Canada’s Legal Traditions

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Paul Jonathan Saguil, “Ethical Lawyering Across Canada’s Legal Traditions” (2010) 9 (1) Indigenous Law Journal

Abstract:

This article examines the extent to which a “reconceptualization” from the deontological and consequentialist paradigms that characterize traditional legal ethics discourse, even as it attempts to break from the tradition, still remains rooted in Western ideals of “self;” “law” and “society” — that is, a notion of lawyers as understood in the common and civil law traditions. It engages the emerging notion of a multi-juridical Canadian legal tradition — that is, in addition to the common law and civil law traditions of the English and French, Canada’s legal inheritance includes (and thus must be harmonized with) indigenous law — and questions how our notions of lawyering and legal practice may have to change to accommodate this non-Western (but nevertheless Canadian) perspective.

To download the full text from SSRN, click here.

Decision: Consulate Ventures (ONCA) – Conflicts

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Consulate Ventures Inc. v. Amico Contracting & Engineering (1992) Inc., 2010 ONCA 788 (CanLII)

From the decision:

OVERVIEW

[1]               Consulate Ventures Inc., the respondent on appeal, brings a motion for an order removing Mr. Alan Lenczner as counsel for the appellants on this appeal.  The respondent contends that Mr. Lenczner, who was retained by the respondent briefly in respect of the same matter some 11 years ago, cannot act for the appellants on this appeal.  Counsel for Mr. Lenczner submits that, in the circumstances, Mr. Lenczner can act on the appeal for the appellants without compromising either his duty of confidentiality to the respondent or his obligations to his present clients, the appellants. 

For the full decision, click here.

News: Legal Ethics Training Compulsory for Law Students (Eng and Wales)

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From the website:

Legal ethics training must be compulsory for law students

The Law Society, in light of the review of legal services education and training  announced by the legal regulators (the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), the Bar Standards Board (BSB) and the Institute of Legal Executives Professional Standards (IPS) have launched the review ), called  for a greater focus on ethics in the Qualifying Law Degree and for the development of more robust systems for assuring quality in the provision of legal education and training.  

For the full release, click here.

Decision: whether solicitors entitled to terminate retainer (UK)

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Richard Buxton (Solicitors) v Mills-Owens & Anor [2010] EWCA Civ 122 (23 February 2010)

URL: http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2010/122.html

Cite as: [2010] 17 EG 96, [2010] 3 Costs LR 421, [2010] CP Rep 26, [2010] EWCA Civ 122, [2010] 1 WLR 1997, [2010] 9 EG 166] EWCA Civ 122

Lord Justice Dyson:

The principal issues that arise on this appeal are whether (i) the appellant solicitors were entitled to terminate their retainer and (ii) whether they were entitled to their profit costs and disbursements up to the date of termination. Continue reading →