The Model Code of Professional Conducted adopted by the Council of the Federation in October 2009 was missing two important sections: the rule on conflicts of interest and the future harm exception to the rules on confidentiality. Special advisory committees established to make recommendations to the Council on those provisions have completed their work and reported to the Council on June 7, 2010. The committee report dealing with conflicts of interest is here. The committee report dealing with the future harm exception is here.

Members of Council are now in the process of deciding whether to adopt the rules recommended in the reports as part of the Model Code. Council members have been asked to indicate their position by early September 2010, if possible.

Canada’s law societies have taken another major step in the implementation of national mobility for members of the legal profession with the formal signing of the landmark Quebec Mobility Agreement (QMA).

“What was begun in 2002 with the signing of the National Mobility Agreement among the common law provinces is now completed, with an agreement by the law societies in common law jurisdictions to open their doors to members of the Barreau du Québec” John Campion, the President of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, said during the signing ceremony.

The Quebec Mobility Agreement extends the scope of the National Mobility Agreement (NMA) by facilitating reciprocal permanent mobility between the common law jurisdictions and the civil law jurisdiction in Québec. The Quebec Mobility Agreement establishes the framework for recognition of members of the Barreau du Quebec as “Canadian Legal Advisors” in Canadian common law jurisdictions. Lawyers from the Canadian common law jurisdictions have been eligible for equivalent membership in the Barreau du Québec as Canadian Legal Advisors since June 2008.

Each law society in common law Canada will now adopt the appropriate rules to give effect to the Agreement, a process that is already underway in a number of jurisdictions.

The Federation President also announced that an initiative was underway to extend similar mobility rights to members of the Chambre des notaires du Quebec, the regulatory body for the 3,500 notaries in the province.

With the regulation of the legal profession in Canada a matter of provincial jurisdiction, Mr. Campion noted, implementing initiatives at the national level such as enhanced mobility for the profession is no easy task. “Each initiative must take into consideration the unique requirements of each jurisdiction. The success of the mobility initiatives shows how all law societies in Canada have worked together in the public interest. In this case, it represents more options for the consumer in accessing the legal system.”

The Council of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada has approved a Model Code of Professional Conduct setting out expected standards of ethical conduct by members of the legal profession. The Model Code is now being considered by our member law societies. The rules dealing with conflicts of interest and a future harm exception to the rules on confidentiality will follow at a later date. You can review the Model Code here (PDF).

The Federation of Law Societies of Canada is pleased to announce that John Campion of Toronto has been elected as President of the Federation for a one year term. He had previously been Vice President and President-elect. The decision was made at a meeting of the Federation Council on October 15, 2009, during which Council also named Ronald J. MacDonald, Q.C., of Halifax as Vice President and President-elect and elected Ian Donaldson, Q.C. of Vancouver as Vice President. Batonnier Stéphane Rivard, Ad. E., becomes Past-President of the Federation. Their terms of office continue until November 15, 2010.

The Council of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada received the Final Report from the Task Force during a meeting held on October 15th, 2009. The Final Report has now been referred to law societies for their consideration. The report was the result of two years of national consultations on issues relating to the criteria for approving common law degrees for the purpose of entry into bar admission programs in Canada. The Final Report is available here. (PDF, 3MB)

As of June 25, 2009 the contact information for the National Committee on Accreditation is as follows:

National Committee on Accreditation
Federation of Law Societies of Canada/
World Exchange Plaza
1810-45, rue O'Connor Street
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1P 1A4
Phone: (613) 236-7250, ext. 229

Fax: (613) 236-7233
Email: nca@flsc.ca

Please note that as of June 25, 2009 the email and telephone contact information at the University of Ottawa will no longer be available. Until June 25, the NCA can be reached as indicated above or at the University of Ottawa.

If you have an active file with the NCA, please ensure that you advise all institutions of the address change when you are instructing them to forward official documents to the NCA.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your patience as we make the transition to the new premises.

Joining other national and provincial leaders, Federation President Stéphane Rivard, Ad. E., addressed the Supreme Court of Canada on February 16, 2009 to congratulate the Honourable Justice Thomas A. Cromwell on his appointment to the Court. A copy of Mr. Rivard’s remarks can be found here.

On December 11, 2007 the Competition Bureau published a study entitled "Self-Regulated Professions: Balancing Competition and Regulation". One of the chapters of the Study deals with the regulation of the legal profession. The Federation of Law Societies of Canada and its member law societies have given careful consideration to the Study and continue to do so as part of their activities.

Among the assertions made by the Competition Bureau which underpin its rationale for the Study, is that Canada's professions are significantly less productive than their American counterparts and that the current regulatory landscape for Canadian professional service providers excessively and unjustifiably inhibits competition.

As the legal profession is among those singled out in the Study, the Federation thought it helpful to explore the basis of these assertions. To that end, respected legal and economic academics Edward Iacobucci and Michael Trebilcock, both professors at the Faculty of Law at the University of Toronto, reviewed the Study and authored a paper entitled "Self-Regulation and Competition in Ontario's Legal Services Sector: An Evaluation of the Competition Bureau's Report on Competition and Self-Regulation in Canadian Professions". It will be submitted for publication by the professors in the near future in order to further academic discussion of these matters.

Download the paper (PDF) 1.2 MB   

In their paper, the professors make a number of points which are worth highlighting. First, they state that the evidence on which the Bureau bases its analysis of productivity is insufficiently targeted to draw any meaningful inference and could, in fact, be evidence of greater competition in Canada. Second, they point out that inferences about the state of competition in professional services cannot be drawn with any confidence from the labour productivity results relied on by the Bureau and they question the Bureau's conclusion that there is a link between the alleged lower productivity and self-regulation. Third, they assert that not only is there no undue concentration of legal services markets but an analysis of barriers to entry further supports the conclusion that legal services markets are robustly competitive.

Finally, the professors conclude that the test which should be applied by law societies in regulating the legal profession is whether, in pursuing legitimate non-competition-related objectives, the rules and regulations restrict competition only as much as is necessary in order to achieve those objectives.

In accordance with their mandates to regulate members of the legal profession in the public interest, the Federation's member law societies are involved on an ongoing basis in the review of their rules and regulations. A number of these were the subject of recommendations by the Bureau in its Study. Changes being made by law societies will be made public in due course.

The Federation of Law Societies of Canada is pleased to announce that Stéphane Rivard, Ad. E., of Montreal has been named as President of the Federation for a one year term. He had previously been Vice President and President-elect. The decision was made at a meeting of the Federation Council on September 18, 2008, during which Council also named John A. Campion of Toronto as Vice President and President-elect and elected Ronald J. MacDonald, Q.C. of Antigonish, Nova Scotia as Vice President. Michael W. Milani, Q.C., becomes Past-President of the Federation. Their terms of office continue until November 15, 2009.

Consultation paper   

The Task Force was established in June 2007 to consider a number of issues related to legal education and to make recommendations for the consideration of and possible adoption by member law societies. In particular the Task Force was asked to,

• " review the criteria currently in place for approval of a LL.B/ J.D. law degree for the purposes of entrance to law societies' bar admission/ licensing programs and determine whether modifications are recommended;
• " if modifications are found to be necessary, propose a national standard for the approved LL.B./J.D. degree; and
• " consider these matters in relation to the existing criteria for review of the credentials of internationally trained applicants and those with civil law degrees from Quebec by the Federation's National Committee on Accreditation.

The Task Force is chaired by John J.L. Hunter, Q.C., President of the Law Society of British Columbia. The other members of the Task Force, representing law societies from across Canada, are Susan Barber, Babak Barin, Professor Vern Krishna C.M., Q.C., Brenda Lutz, Douglas A. McGillivray, Q.C., Grant Mitchell, Q.C., Donald F. Thompson, Q.C., Alan D. Treleaven and Catherine S. Walker, Q.C.

The Federation is most interested in receiving input on the issues raised and questions asked in the consultation paper. Your written comments are requested by December 15, 2008. Please send comments to the attention of:

Federation of Law Societies of Canada
Task Force on the Canadian Common Law Degree
c/o Sophia Sperdakos, Policy Counsel
Law Society of Upper Canada
130 Queen Street West
Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2N6

The new "know-your-client" rule outlines the steps lawyers and Quebec notaries must take, and the records they must keep, to verify a client's identity. These actions will help members of the legal profession determine whether a client is attempting to use them to improperly transfer funds.

All Canadian law societies have undertaken to adopt local rules mirroring the substance of the model rule as soon as possible.