Serving the Public Interest
Canada’s 14 provincial and territorial law societies govern over 100,000 lawyers and 3,500 Quebec notaries in the public interest. The Federation of Law Societies of Canada is their national coordinating body.
An Independent Legal Profession
A central feature of Canada’s legal system is the public's right to obtain legal advice and be represented by a legal profession that is independent of the government. For that reason, our laws provide for the self-regulation of the legal profession. All of the work law societies do to protect the public is paid for entirely by members of the legal profession itself, and not through public taxes.
Canada’s Law Societies Protect the Public
One of the key strengths of Canada’s legal system is the clear distinction between the function of law societies and that of voluntary associations of members of the profession. The function of law societies is to regulate the legal profession in the public interest. The mandate of the Federation is also to serve the public interest. It is the function of voluntary associations of members of the profession, such as the Canadian Bar Association, to speak for and represent the interests of their members.
The Public is Protected in a Number of Ways
Canada’s law societies serve the public interest in many ways, including the following:
- They ensure that members of the profession are competent to practice law by managing a rigourous admissions and credentialing process.
- They ensure that members of the profession adhere to high standards of professional conduct by adopting rules of ethics and enforcing them
- They audit and monitor the use of funds held in trust so that clients can be confident their money is safe.
- They investigate complaints from the public to make sure that members of the profession are meeting their professional obligations.
- They require members of the profession to have liability insurance to protect clients from negligent legal work if it should occur.
- They take custody of legal practices if members of the legal profession stop practicing law without making arrangements for their clients.