Legal Practice: The Ethical Dimension

• Author: Allan C. Hutchinson
• Pages: 59-73

59

CHAP TER 4

LEGAL PR ACTICE:

THE ETHICAL

DIMENSION

As part of their professional power and responsibility, law societies have

shown considerable energy in regulating the circumstances and condi-

tions under which persons ca n become lawyers and continue to engage in

the practice of law. However, their eagerness to enact rule s and regulations

has not always been matched by their willingness to enforce them with

any marked degree of enthusiasm. Indeed, like the common law itself,

the regulatory proces s tends to be largely reactive, and lawyers as a group

evince little genuine appetite for the exerci se. Nevertheless, in t his chap-

ter, I will explain t he basic structure that controls the attai nment, mon-

itoring, and performance s of legal practice. In the f‌irst part, I int roduce the

terms for entry into the legal profes sion. Next, there is an i nquiry i nto the

“good character” test for admission into the legal ra nks. The third section

explores the stand ards imposed by the law generally and the Rules sp ecif-

ically for determining a nd sanctioning professional malpractice. In t he last

two sections, I round out the chapter by noting t he control of unauthor-

ized legal practice and t he relevance of lawyers’ private lives to their pro-

fessional status a nd reputation. Throughout the chapter, I will concentrate

on the impact of these str uctural arrangements for individual law yers.

A. ENTRY INTO THE PROFESSION

Lawyers in Ca nada are part of an integrated profession. Students are c alled

to the bar as bar risters and solicitors. This disti nction (essentia lly between