REGULATING LAW FIRMS IN CANADA

Abstract

Law societies should regulate law firms. This article identifies the regulatory anomaly of law firms being ever present in the practice of law in Canada but peripheral in the regulation of lawyers in this country. Law societies should regulate law firms primarily on the basis of ensuring public confidence in self-regulation and respect for the rule of law and only secondarily out of concerns for public protection. The author conducts a “regulatory audit” of how Law societies in Canada currently regulate law firms and also examines how law firms are regulated in comparable jurisdictions. The author then presents a suggested template for law firm regulation.