Conclusion: Taking It Personally

• Author: Allan C. Hutchinson
• Pages: 206-217

CHAP TER 11

CONCLUSION:

TAKING IT PERSONALLY

In this short book, I have sought to challenge many of the prevail-

ing misundersta ndings that per vade discussions on legal ethics and to

make good on present shortcomings in profe ssiona l respon sibility. As

I stated in the introduction, the book is intended to be both a critical

primer on the current approache s to professional responsibility and a

call to ethical a rms. I reject the trad itional image and defence of the

ethical lawyer as hired hand (as well as more recent alternat ives) be-

cause they are bas ed on a f‌lawed set of assumptions about the operation

of law and the practice of law yering in contemporary Ca nada. Mindful

that the homogeneity of lawyers is beginning to be replaced by a more

diverse professional personnel, I have found the unifyi ng theme for

the book in the challenge that a fragmented society a nd legal profes-

sion holds for the development of a transformed practice of profess ional

responsibility a nd legal ethics. Accordingly, in place of the traditional

exposition, I seek to offer a more compelling and workable account of

lawyering. The result is, I hope, a sensible contribution to an import-

ant task that should be appreciated and shared by all law yers, both

personally and collectively: t he development of an ethically satisf ying

and professionally responsible approach to legal practice. In th is f‌inal

chapter, therefore, I will trace some of the broader implicat ions for fu-

ture developments and innovations, especially in regard to the study

and training of young law yers.

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