the SOCIETY RECORD - Nova Scotia Barristers' Society

Competence
Working in a small community brings many opportunities to
have a broad practice and gain competence in many areas of law.
You also have an added advantage of being able to take control
of the areas in which you practise. But it’s not easy to reach
the necessary level of competence in each area of law if you are
working on own or without a senior lawyer to serve as a mentor.
The challenge is finding the right balance between taking on
new cases for which you have some but not full knowledge and
experience, and knowing when you don’t know enough and can’t
provide competent, good quality service. The primary concern
has to be the client’s best interests.
‘If you’re not familiar with an area of law, you learn it. You get a lot of
experience early on in your career.” [ibid]
When practising in a small or close community, always consider
your duties of competence in Rule 3.1, and the need to perform
all legal services undertaken on a client’s behalf to the standard
of a competent lawyer.
Also consider your duties of quality of service in Rule 3.2. Your
responsibility is to remain objective, exercise good professional
judgment, and be able to provide sound legal advice at all times.
Having longstanding and/or personal relationships with clients
can make this challenging. If you become involved in providing
pro bono services for a friend or neighbour, you are required to
provide the same quality of service as you would to a paying
client. Sometimes the lines between lawyer and friend become
too blurred.
The Commentary in Rule 3.1-2 provides: “A lawyer should
not undertake a matter without honestly feeling competent to
handle it, or being able to become competent without undue
delay, risk or expense to the client.”
If the lawyer would like to take on a new matter that will allow
him or her to gain new knowledge and experience, then be
honest with the client, don’t charge them for the time it takes
you to get up to speed. Collaborate with another lawyer who
does have the experience and can help train you, and get the
client’s consent to allow you the time to become competent.
Community involvement
Becoming an integral part of the community, whether you grew
up in a large city, Aboriginal community, or rural community,
gives you the opportunity for a readymade group of clients, and
less need to market your legal services. Your level of community
engagement will be high and this will appeal to your clients.
You will have opportunities to serve your communities in other
ways such as in leadership positions such as an MLA, board
chair, church leader, etc. However, this can also create situations
that give rise to conflicts of interest, clients with unreasonable
expectations, and who make assumptions about what you can
and will do for them. In situations involving large families, there
can also be a lack of clarity about exactly who your client is and
who can give instructions. If you become a lawyer holding a
public office, consider your unique ethical duties under Rule 7.4.
Confidentiality
Be vigilant about your duties of confidentiality (Rule 3.3), and the
need to avoid conflicts of interest (Rule 3.4). Always be clear when
you are acting in a solicitor-client relationship, or when you are
serving in some other capacity (even just as a friend!) but also happen
to be a lawyer. Protect yourself and others from assumptions that can
be made because you are a lawyer.
When you are a lawyer dealing with a client with whom you have
another relationship, such as friend or neighbour, remember your
duty of honesty and candour (Rule 3.2) – some lawyers find it much
easier to be truly honest and candid with a client about the strength
of their case (or lack thereof) where they have no other relationship.
Lawyers have frequently ended up in hot water when they have been
reluctant to be candid with a client because they are also a friend.
Withdrawal
Breakdowns in solicitor-client relationships become even more
difficult and painful when you are both living in a small or close
community. When considering your duties with regard to withdrawal
under Rule 3.7, it is important to remain as objective as possible,
and depersonalize the situation to the extent you can. Be very careful
about what information you disclose to successor counsel. Make no
assumptions about what the new lawyer knows because you both
work in a small or close community. Keep things professional and
remember your duties with respect to maintaining confidentiality
and protecting privilege.
Quality of service
Many lawyers who practise in small or close communities have an
abundance of clients and work, and the challenge becomes how to
provide good quality of service at all times. Such lawyers have to
watch out for having a practice that becomes unmanageable too
quickly. There is a challenge to find the right balance between keeping
overhead low while having appropriate and affordable resources to
allow you to properly serve your clients.
Remember that being competent also requires the ability to ”manage
one’s practice effectively” and to “pursue appropriate professional
development to maintain and enhance legal knowledge and
attributes” (Rule 3.1). In order to provide good quality of service, a
lawyer has to “maintain office staff, facilities and equipment adequate
to the lawyer’s practice.” (Rule 3.2)
Administration of justice
Working in a small or close community allows you to develop strong
working relationships with others involved in the administration
of justice within that community; e.g. Crown attorneys, judges,
community and social workers, community leaders. Again, lawyers
must be mindful of the duty to avoid conflicts of interest, loosing
objectivity and the need to maintain formal and well-documented
client files, regardless of how close you are to the client or the
community.
Unique issues in small community practice
The legal issues and considerations found in the small rural practice
will be different to what a lawyer was exposed to in law school and,
more than likely, during articling (especially if the articling was done
in a large downtown law firm).
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The Society Record