The end of a calendar year invites reflection on the months just passed. Inspired by Alice Woolley (now Justice Alice Woolley) who compiled several year-in-review lists when she was a professor (see, for example, here, here, here and here), in this column I look back on five areas of key developments in lawyers’ ethics and lawyer regulation in 2023. I also flag several major court cases and disciplinary proceedings from 2023, many of which are ongoing.

Five Areas of Key Developments

1. Generative AI and the delivery of legal services. In November 2022, ChatGPT was released to . . . [more]

Systemic racism is a reality in Canada. At many junctures in life, a person’s access to opportunities and fair treatment will be affected by their race, skin colour, or indigineity. The legal profession, in order to do its essential work in our society, must recognize and confront systemic racism.

So far, most formal efforts to do so have focused on racism’s effect on lawyers, law students, and others who work in the law. (See for example the action plans from the law societies of BC and Ontario, as well as Alberta’s “My Experience” project). These are worthy . . . [more]

Canada has one of the world’s better justice systems, according to the World Justice Project Rule of Law Index. We are ranked 12th out of 140 world countries by the WJP. Delay, however, is a major Achilles’ Heel. (1)  

• When it comes to providing timely justice in civil matters, Canada ranks only 56th worldwide according to the WJP Index. We received a failing grade of 47% for this, the lowest among 44 sub-factor scores for Canada. In Ontario, for example, the average civil trial occurs over five years after the Statement of Claim was delivered. 
• Some administrative tribunals provide

Six months ago, I wrote a column about ChatGPT and other tools using large language models (“LLMs”). My aim there was to introduce this technology to readers and briefly outline intersections with legal ethics and access to justice issues. This column provides an update on this topic, including a deeper dive into legal ethics considerations.

I. What are we talking about?

My previous column included a basic overview about how ChatGPT and other tools built on LLMs work. I reshare the following two quotes as a starting point here:

A basic explanation of how ChatGPT works:

“It is trained on

I recently started my own practice. There’s a lot to do and a lot to think about—but seeing as I practice in the area of professional responsibility, one of my foremost concerns was ensuring my new firm would comply with Law Society requirements.

From my recent experience, here are five things to think about from an ethics and professionalism perspective if you are opening your own firm or solo practice:

1. Transferring clients: If you are leaving a firm, discuss which (if any) clients you wish to bring with you as soon as possible. Importantly, you cannot unilaterally decide that

By: Jennifer Koshan and Deanne Sowter, cross-posted to Ablawg.ca

Case Commented On: Ahluwalia v Ahluwalia, 2022 ONSC 1303 (Can LII); 2023 ONCA 476 (CanLII)

Intimate partner violence (IPV) takes many forms, all of which cause harm to survivors (who are disproportionately women and children). In August, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada declared that gender-based violence is an epidemic. However, only certain forms of IPV were subject to legal sanction historically – primarily physical and sexual abuse, although sexual assault against a spouse was only criminalized in 1983 (see Criminal Code, RSC 1985, . . . [more]

By reviving the long-defunct “King’s Counsel” designation in his province, Ontario Attorney General Doug Downey has succeeded in taking what should have been a good news story and turning it into a scandal.  

The first hint of a possible issue was the making of the announcement by press release on Friday, June 30^th just prior to the Canada Day long weekend. This is a time to bury news, not to make news. In the parlance of the much-beloved political classic The West Wing, this practice is referred to as “take out the trash day”.

In the . . . [more]

So, you need a lawyer. Who are you going to call? There are more than 50,000 to choose from in Ontario. Each one is officially licensed to handle any and all legal needs, but most are not competent to help with your particular need, and an even smaller number would be ideal for you. It can be very difficult to sort the wheat from the chaff, especially if you haven’t worked with lawyers in the past.

If a would-be client is confused by the options, and doesn’t have someone knowledgeable they can ask, it would be sensible to look at . . . [more]

The controversy over the Ontario government’s resurrection of the King’s Counsel designation is now in its third week. And interest in the controversy is not limited to the legal community alone; yesterday, the Toronto Star reported (at the top of its website): “Advertising ‘King’s Counsel’ titles may violate Ontario lawyers’ rules on misleading marketing, experts caution”.

Let’s explore that further.

The Star article quoted four experts: a law professor (Slaw legal ethics columnist Amy Salyzyn); two former Treasurers of the Law Society of Ontario (“LSO”); and the current Treasurer, Jacqueline Horvat, who, according to the article, had . . . [more]

Introduction

The recent Bencher election for the Law Society of Ontario (the “LSO”) was a heated and political affair. Candidates presented themselves for election, publicized platform commitments, communicated with electors by email and pamphlet, and even, controversially, organized themselves into competing slates. It had the look and feel of the kind of election we are all familiar with for federal, provincial, or municipal office. One of the differences, however, is that those other elections all have meaningful campaign finance legislation that regulates money in politics. While By-Law 3 sets out in detail some aspects of LSO elections, it is silent . . . [more]

My wife was assaulted by a stranger in downtown Toronto, in January of 2020. She was walking through the underground passage from the Eaton Centre into the Queen TTC station. A man suddenly ran up and kicked her in the leg. She was rattled, and her leg was bruised, but she got over it within a few weeks.

She was lucky. A few weeks later the same man attacked another woman, in the same mall. This time he approached his victim from the back and hit her on the head. This lady suffered a serious concussion, and couldn’t work for . . . [more]

The Path to Pride

The year is 2001. The legal profession in Ontario is in disarray after several law students at the University of Toronto’s law school were caught fraudulently altering their grades to secure prestigious Bay Street summer positions. Many of these students were disciplined. Yet, in the eyes of the legal priesthood, this also necessitated a macro-level response.

Accordingly, some of the profession’s best and brightest were corralled together under the leadership of the then-Chief Justice of Ontario, Roy McMurtry, to define the elements of professionalism for lawyers. Understandably, the Advisory Committee on Professionalism, as it was . . . [more]