The Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC) is responsible for the self-regulation of lawyers and paralegals in the
CanadianCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
province of
OntarioOntario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
,
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Founded in 1797, it is known in
FrenchFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
as "Le Barreau du Haut-Canada". The motto of the Society is "Let Right Prevail".
History and function
The Law Society of
Upper CanadaThe Province of Upper Canada was a political division in British Canada established in 1791 by the British Empire to govern the central third of the lands in British North America and to accommodate Loyalist refugees from the United States of America after the American Revolution...
was created almost 20 years before the earliest such association in any other Canadian province or territory. The creation of this self-governing body by an Act of the
LegislatureThe Legislative Assembly of Ontario , is the legislature of the Canadian province of Ontario, and is the second largest provincial legislature of Canada...
was an innovation in the English-speaking world and it became the model for law societies across
CanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the United States. It is one of the oldest Law Societies in the English speaking world.
In 1994, the Law Society affirmed its role by adopting this Role Statement: "The Law Society of Upper Canada exists to govern the legal profession in the public interest by ensuring that the people of Ontario are served by lawyers who meet high standards of learning, competence and professional conduct, and upholding the independence, integrity and honour of the legal profession, for the purpose of advancing the cause of justice and the rule of law."
The Law Society regulates approximately 40,000 lawyers (barristers and solicitors) in Ontario. It is responsible for ensuring that lawyers are both ethical and competent. The Society has the power to set standards for admission into the profession. It is empowered to discipline lawyers who violate those standards. Available sanctions range from admonitions to
disbarmentDisbarment is the removal of a lawyer from a bar association or the practice of law, thus revoking his or her law license or admission to practice law...
. It is based in
TorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, at
Osgoode HallOsgoode Hall is a landmark building in downtown Toronto constructed between 1829 and 1832 in the late Georgian Palladian and Neoclassical styles. It houses the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Divisional Court of the Superior Court of Justice, and the Law Society of Upper Canada...
.
Effective May 1, 2007, as a result of amendments to Ontario's
Law Society Act, the Law Society regulates approximately 2000
paralegalParalegal is used in most jurisdictions to describe a paraprofessional who assists qualified lawyers in their legal work. This is true in the United States and many other countries. However, in Ontario, Canada, paralegals are licensed by the Law Society of Upper Canada, giving paralegals an...
licensees in Ontario. Paralegals are licensed to provide limited legal services, such as providing representation before provincial tribunals.
Effective March 8, 2008, the benchers of Convocation, who also serve as adjudicators at discipline hearings and corporate directors at Convocation, voted to begin publishing tribunal decisions wherein impugned members successfully defended themselves at hearings. Decisions favouring members made prior to that date remain private and unpublished. No complete registry of matters heard is made available to the bench, bar or public.
The society is headed by a
TreasurerA treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The adjective for a treasurer is normally "tresorial". The adjective "treasurial" normally means pertaining to a treasury, rather than the treasurer.-Government:...
. He or she is selected by, and from among, the Benchers, who comprise "Convocation" - in effect, the Society's
board of directorsA board of directors is a body of elected or appointed members who jointly oversee the activities of a company or organization. Other names include board of governors, board of managers, board of regents, board of trustees, and board of visitors...
as the Society is an Ontario Corporation without share capital. All lawyer-benchers are elected by the Society's members, and eight lay Benchers are appointed by the provincial government. Section 12(2) of the Law Society Act, R.S.O. 1990, provides that Ontario's Attorney General is a Bencher of convocation while Section 13(1) provides that the Attorney General is "Guardian of the Public Interest" and, as such, may require the production of any document or thing possessed by the regulator. The regulator falls under the supervision of the Ministry of the Attorney General, according to the ministry's web site.
The current Treasurer is Laurie Pawlitza. The current CEO of the Society is Malcolm Heins. In 2006, the Law Society had close to 400 staff.
In October 2008, the Law Society was named one of
Greater Toronto's Top EmployersGreater Toronto's Top Employers is an annual competition that recognizes the best places to work in the Greater Toronto Area...
by Mediacorp Canada Inc., which was announced by the
Toronto StarThe Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
newspaper.
April 29, 2011 is the date of the next
LSUC Bencher Election 2011The Law Society of Upper Canada is the self-regulatory body for lawyers and paralegals in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is governed by a board of directors known as "Benchers" with elections held every four years...
.
See also
External links