Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Future of Self-Regulation - Canada between the United States and the English/Australian Experience

Abstract:     
The author analyses and assesses the impact of recent and dramatic changes to self-regulatory models for the legal profession in England, Australia and the United States to discern whether legal self-regulation can or ought to continue in Canada. He concludes that a nuanced co-regulatory approach balancing the competing concerns of accountability with independence of the profession may ultimately serve to respond to concerns of both the public and the legal profession. Further, the transformation of regulatory and disciplinary models internationally has been tied to broader conceptions about delivery models for legal services, including law firm IPOs and multidisciplinary practice. Accordingly, the key to preserving self-regulation by and for the profession lies in a broader conception of service in the public interest, accompanied by co-regulation and a separation of regulation from discipline.

[NOTE: Paper commissioned for the ABA Canons of Ethics Centennial Celebration and will be published in a Special Edition of The Professional Lawyer, Fall 2008]

Number of Pages in PDF File: 32

Keywords: self-regulation, legal profession, legal services, lawyers

JEL Classification: L84, L50, K40

Accepted Paper Series