Legal Practice: The Ethical Dimension

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

59

CHAPTER 4

LEGAL PRACTICE:

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 exercise. Nevertheless, in this chap-

ter, I will explain the basic structure that controls the attainment, 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 ranks. 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 the control of unauthor-

ized legal practice and the relevance of lawyers’ private lives to their pro-

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

on the impact of these structural 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