Conclusion: Taking It Personally

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

CHAPTER 11

CONCLUSION:

TAKING IT PERSONALLY

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

ing misunderstandings that pervade discussions on legal ethics and to

make good on present shortcomings in professional responsibility. As

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

primer on the current approaches to professional responsibility and a

call to ethical arms. I reject the traditional image and defence of the

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

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

of law and the practice of lawyering in contemporary Canada. Mindful

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

diverse professional personnel, I have found the unifying theme for

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

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

responsibility and 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 lawyers, both

personally and collectively: the development of an ethically satisfying

and professionally responsible approach to legal practice. In this f‌inal

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

ture developments and innovations, especially in regard to the study

and training of young law yers.

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