Federation News

Federation survey of new members of the legal profession underway as part of National Admission Standards Project

On May 9, 2012, the Federation of Law Societies of Canada invited new lawyers and Quebec notaries to participate in a large scale survey on the knowledge, skills and abilities needed to ensure that new members of the profession are competent to practise law.

The survey will test the validity of a draftcompetency profile, a key element of an initiative undertaken on behalf of Canada’s law societies toestablish national standards for admission to the legal profession.

“Law societies are mandated by provincial and territorial statute to regulate the legal profession in thepublic interest” noted Federation President John Hunter, Q.C. “The duty of law societies to protect thepublic begins with ensuring that those admitted to the practice of law are competent and of goodcharacter.”“ With an increasingly mobile profession, consistency in admission standards is more important than ever,as admission to the profession in one province or territory effectively guarantees admission in all others” Mr. Hunter explained. “The goal of the National Admission Standards Project is to develop and implementstandards for admission to practice that are consistent across the country.”

Our complete news release is available here

Federation highlights law society anti-money laundering measures at Senate committee

The President of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada has affirmed the proactive role played by law societies to fight money laundering and called on the Senate committee responsible for reviewing changes to Canada’s Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act to ensure that any amendments preserve the independence of the bar and protect solicitor-client privilege.

Complete details of the presentation made April 4, 2012 are here.

Addendum signed to include Quebec Notaries in National Mobility Regime

Canada’s law societies have taken another step in the implementation of national mobility for members of the legal profession with the formal signing of an Addendum to the Quebec Mobility Agreement, extending Canada’s national mobility regime to Quebec notaries.

The signing ceremony was held March 15, 2012 during the Federation’s Semi-Annual Conference in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories.

“When the members of the Federation entered into the National Mobility Agreement in 2002 and the Territorial Mobility Agreement in 2006, we established ourselves as leaders in professional mobility” the President of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, John J.L. Hunter, Q.C., told the representatives at the signing ceremony.

The Addendum, Mr Hunter noted, means there is now a system of mobility in Canada that permits every Canadian lawyer and Quebec notary to move between jurisdictions.

“This is a tremendous accomplishment”, Mr. Hunter said. “In crafting a mobility regime that covers lawyers and notaries from common law and civil law jurisdictions we have perhaps demonstrated that despite our different legal traditions we are more alike than we are different.  And this is something of which we should be very proud.”

Federation Approves Proposal For New Law Degree Program at the Université de Montréal

For the second time in a year, the Council of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada (Federation) has set the stage for development of a new common law degree program in Canada. The Council has adopted the recommendations of a committee that reviewed an application for a new program from the Université de Montréal. The Université de Montréal has been conferring law degrees in Quebec civil law since 1879 through its Faculty of Law and it now wants to issue law degrees in common law so its holders can apply for admission to law societies in common law provinces and territories.  

The Federation’s recommendation for approval will now go to the individual law societies for their review and approval, as they have the ultimate authority to recognize Canadian law degrees conferred upon individuals seeking admission to law society bar admission programs.

Last year the Federation Council adopted committee recommendations that led to the creation of new common law programs at Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario and at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia. Until then, it had been more than 30 years since a new faculty of law had been approved in Canada.

The committee report dealing with the Université de Montréal proposal, and the university’s submission, are posted on the Federation’s website.

Federation completes Model Code conflicts of interest provisions

The Council of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada has approved an update to the Federation’s Model Code of Professional Conduct (the “Model Code”) by revising the conflicts of interest rule to incorporate provisions that deal with acting against current clients (the “Current Client Rule”).

In 2009, the Model Code was adopted without a rule on conflicts of interest pending further study by the Federation’s Advisory Committee on Conflicts of Interest. That committee submitted reports to Council in June 2010 dealing with the rule on conflicts of interest and in February 2011 dealing more specifically with the Current Client Rule.

In March 2011, the Council directed the Federation’s Standing Committee on the Model Code of Professional Conduct to consider the reports of the Advisory Committee and the recommended formulation of the Current Client Rule. At that time Council adopted a rule on conflicts of interest as part of the Model Code, but without a Current Client Rule.

In November, the Standing Committee issued its report on conflicts of interest recommending a revised rule and changes to the definitions section of the Model Code. The Federation Council approved the Standing Committee’s recommendations at a meeting held on December 13, 2011. The report of the Standing Committee is available here. The mandate of the Standing Committee includes ongoing review of the Model Code.

The adoption of the Model Code by the Federation reflects a belief that the public should be able to expect the same ethical requirements to apply wherever their legal advisor may practice law. A number of law societies have implemented or are in the process of implementing the Model Code and it is expected that over time, any significant differences in rules of conduct across Canada will be eliminated.