7.6-1 The lawyer assists in preventing the unauthorized practice of counsel and the unauthorized provision of legal services. [1] As a mediator, a lawyer should generally not provide legal advice to the parties during mediation, unlike legal information. This does not prevent the mediator from informing about the consequences in case of failure of the mediation. 7.2-4 A lawyer shall not, in the course of his or her professional practice, send correspondence or otherwise communicate with a client, another lawyer or any other person in a manner that is abusive, offensive or otherwise inconsistent with the appropriate tone of a lawyer`s professional communication. [2] The limited nature of short-term legal services significantly reduces the risk of conflicts of interest. Therefore, a lawyer is not permitted to work for a client who receives short-term legal services only if he or she has actual knowledge of a conflict of interest in the same or related matter. For example, a conflict of interest of which the lawyer is not really aware, but which is imputed to the lawyer because of his or her membership in a law firm, association or employment, would not prevent the lawyer from representing the client who uses short-term legal services. [6] Information obtained from a lawyer representing short-term clients may result in a conflict with an existing client for the lawyer, which may force the lawyer to cease representing that existing client. This risk can be minimized by setting up a conflict of interest search system for the law firm before representing short-term clients. [7] Appropriate screening measures must be taken to prevent the disclosure of confidential client information in the short term to others in the firm. Rule 3.4-16.4 extends, with necessary modifications, the rules and guidelines on conflicts arising from a change of counsel between law firms (rules 3.4-17 to 3.4-23) to the situation of a law firm acting against a current client of the firm by providing short-term legal services.
Steps that counsel providing short-term legal services should take to ensure the confidentiality of client information include: (b) obtaining the client`s signature on a copy of the certificate of independent legal advice; and (a) provide the client with a written certificate attesting that he or she has received independent legal advice; (c) the lawyer or paralegal receiving the referral has the expertise and capacity to deal with the matter; [2] If the external interest is not related to the legal services provided to clients, no ethical considerations usually arise, unless the lawyer`s conduct could bring the lawyer or the profession into disrepute or affect the lawyer`s competence, such as: If the external interest could take so long that the interests of the clients would suffer from inattention or lack of preparation. `limited advance` means the provision of legal services by a lawyer for some, but not all, of a client`s legal affairs by agreement between the lawyer and the client; [1] Unlike rules 3.4-1 to 3.4-9, which deal with current client disputes, rules 3.4.10 and 3.4-11 deal with disputes where the lawyer takes action against a former client. Rule 3.4-10 protects against the misuse of confidential information from a previous advance and ensures that counsel does not challenge legal work done in a previous advance or undermine the client`s position in a matter that was at the heart of an earlier advance. It is not unreasonable for a lawyer to take action against a former client in a new and independent matter that has nothing to do with the work he or she has already done for that client, when previously obtained confidential information is not relevant to that matter. 7.2-8 A lawyer engaged to act in a matter involving a corporation or organization represented by a lawyer may not communicate, facilitate communication or negotiate with any person without the consent of the lawyer, or unless otherwise authorized or required by law. “Recommendation” includes the recommendation of another lawyer or paralegal to do legal work for someone, unless the work is performed by the same law firm where the referring lawyer primarily practises. “clinical training course or program” means a course, program, articling or partnership organized or accepted by an Ontario law school that, Ontario Law Students provide opportunities to gain practical and applied legal experience. [8] Counsel should clearly state the facts, circumstances and assumptions on which an expert opinion is based, especially if the circumstances do not warrant a full investigation and the resulting costs to the client. However, unless the client decides otherwise, the lawyer should investigate the matter in sufficient detail to allow the lawyer to express an opinion and not just comments with many restrictions. A lawyer should only provide legal advice to a client if it is the legal advice he or she represents, and it will be provided according to the standards of a competent lawyer.
[7] The courts have developed a clear demarcation rule to protect representation and loyalty to current clients. see Canadian National Railway v. McKercher LLP, [2013] 2 S.C.R. 649. The clear line rule states that a lawyer cannot act directly against the immediate legal interests of a current client without their consent. The brightness line rule applies even if the work done for both clients is completely independent. The range of the brightness line ruler is limited. It states that a lawyer cannot act directly against the immediate legal interests of a current client.
Therefore, the main scope of the brightness rule is in civil and criminal proceedings. Exceptionally, the brightness rule does not apply in cases where it is unreasonable for a client to expect the client`s law firm not to take action against the client in unrelated matters. Carsten was President of the Law Society of Alberta from 2013 to 2014 and was first elected as a Bencher in 2006. He has also chaired several key Law Society committees, including Credentials and Education and Finance. [1] The remuneration paid by a client to a lawyer for his or her work as a lawyer on behalf of the client does not constitute a conflict of interest. (i) whether an independent lawyer should be informed of the client`s identity and ordered not to disclose the identity of the court-appointed lawyer to law enforcement authorities or the Public Prosecutor`s Office, [3] A lawyer with a client with a disability should be aware that if the client`s disability is such that the client no longer has legal capacity, manage their legal affairs, The lawyer may need to take steps to appoint a legal representative, such as a litigation guardian, or to obtain assistance from the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee or the Office of the Child Advocate to protect the client`s interests. In all cases, the lawyer has an ethical obligation to ensure that the client`s interests are not abandoned. [4.1] Counsel has a special responsibility to recognize the diversity of Ontario`s community, protect human dignity and respect Ontario`s human rights laws, because of the privileges accorded to the legal profession and the important role it plays in a free and democratic society and in the administration of justice.
3.2-1A Before providing legal services under a limited retainer, the lawyer must honestly and honestly inform the client of the nature, scope and scope of the services he or she may provide and, if so, whether the services can be provided within the client`s financial possibilities. Mr. Filliter served on the Board of Directors of the Law Society of New Brunswick from 2014 to 2017 and served as Chair from 2016 to 2017. He has been an active member of numerous Law Society committees, as Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Advisory Committee and the Library Committee, as well as Vice-Chair of the Complaints Committee. He has also been a member of the Law Society`s Human Resources Committee, the Bar Admission Committee and the Special Bar Admissions Review Committee. 7.2-2 The lawyer must avoid harsh practices and must not take advantage of slippages, irregularities or mistakes of other lawyers who are not in the case or which affect the rights of a client or act without fair warning. [3] A lawyer should avoid rash or ill-informed criticism of the competence, conduct, advice or accusations of other lawyers, but should be prepared, upon request, to advise and represent a client in a complaint involving another lawyer. 3.3-6 A lawyer may disclose confidential information to another lawyer in order to obtain legal advice about the lawyer`s proposed conduct. [1] A lawyer who agrees to provide services at an advertised price is required to provide legal services according to the standard of a competent lawyer. Clients are entitled to the same quality of legal services, whether the services are provided at an advertised price or otherwise; [1.1] An attorney may permit a non-lawyer to perform the duties assigned and supervised to the attorney as long as the attorney has a direct relationship with the client or, if located in a community legal clinic funded by Legal Aid Ontario, provided that the attorney maintains a direct supervision relationship with each client`s case in accordance with Legal Aid Ontario`s supervision requirements and has full professional responsibility: takes care of the work.