the SOCIETY RECORD - Nova Scotia Barristers' Society

say the public policy reasons are not strong enough to overcome a
lawyer’s duty to act in the interests of clients. Others say lawyers are
gatekeepers and should not be complicit in abusive transactions.”
Brent Cotter, a professor in the College of Law at the University of
Saskatchewan, emphasized in his presentation that ethical obligations
are not uniform. “Government lawyers need to appreciate the way
they relate to the law is different and the way their client is approached
is different,” he said.
One distinct difference: government lawyers owe a duty of fair
treatment to adversaries, Mr. Cotter stated.
Ethical issues aren’t esoteric. They can hit at the heart of a lawyer’s
practice. Meinhard Doelle, director of the Marine and Environmental
Law Institute at Dalhousie, pointed out in on his talk that for students
studying environmental law there is often a moral and a practical
dilemma. A desire to protect and defend the environment is what
attracts many people to this area of law, but the reality is there are few
legal jobs that call for this outlook. Private practice is usually where
employment is secured – and the landscape is very different for new,
idealistic environment lawyers.
“They will quickly find [their] views are at odds with the clients they
represent. It’s not only clients with different perspectives, so will their
colleagues. In many cases, it’s a firm culture,” Mr. Doelle said.
“That can create an unhappy situation,” he added. “Some choose to
leave; some choose to do volunteer work.”
Schulich professor Rollie Thompson noted in his remarks that although
“context” is a word he threatens students not to use on tests, it is
nonetheless critical to understanding how ethical decisions are reached.
He left attendees with two critical – and unanswered – questions:
• To what extent do entrants into law have to take ethical
considerations into account – should students think about this?
• To what extent are legal ethics better taught and understood in a
contextual course rather than a survey course – does it provide a
truer picture in the real world?
It was left to Stephen Pitel, a professor in the Faculty of Law at
Western University, to coalesce the discussion. He noted that while
history helps us understand the ethical issues lawyers face today, there
are steps that practising professionals need to take to ensure they
understand their ethical obligations – and live by them.
“Can lawyers just be a mouthpiece for their clients where there is no
clear ethical violation?” he asked.
The times have clearly changed – and yet so much remains the
same. Mr. Girard noted that selective enforcement has been an issue.
Minority lawyers, for example, have historically been singled out
more often for discipline.
But the issue is very much alive today, said Mr. Pitel: “We have real
concerns about whether enforcement is skewed against lawyers in
smaller firms.”
The elusive issue of ethics continues to evolve, along with the overall
context.
Photo by Nick Pearce/Dalhousie University
(L to R): Tim Daley QC, Richard Devlin, Meinhard Doelle, Geoffrey Loomer, Stephen Pitel, Philip Gerard, Sarah Bradley,
Rollie Thompson, Dean Kim Brooks, and Brett Cotter.
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