The Law Society of Ontario (LSO; french: Barreau de l'Ontario) is the
law society
A law society is an association of lawyers with a regulatory role that includes the right to supervise the training, qualifications, and conduct of lawyers. Where there is a distinction between barristers and solicitors, solicitors are regulated ...
responsible for the self-regulation of
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
s and
paralegal
A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant, or paralegal specialist is a professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with a license to practice law. The market for paralegals i ...
s in the
Canadian province
Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North ...
of
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
. Founded in 1797 as the Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC; french: link=no, Barreau du Haut-Canada), its name was changed by statute in 2018.
History
![Receipt for application to the Law Society of Upper Canada issued to John A](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Receipt_for_application_to_the_Law_Society_of_Upper_Canada_issued_to_John_A._Macdonald%2C_February_5%2C_1836.jpg)
The Law Society of Upper Canada was established in 1797 to regulate the legal profession in the
British colony
The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remnants of the former Bri ...
of
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...
and is the oldest self-governing body in North America.
The Society governed the legal profession in the coterminous
Canada West
The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on the ...
from 1841 to 1867, and in Ontario since
Confederation
A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...
in 1867.
The Law Society was authorized, although not created, by the ''Act for the better regulating of the practice of the law'', a 1797 statute. Section 1 of the act simply authorized those at the time "admitted in the law and practising at the bar" in the province to form themselves into a "society". The 1797 statute allowed the Law Society to impose requirements for admission to the bar of Upper Canada and to test applicants against these standards.
That statute made no express provisions for any other people to become members of the Law Society: but the power to admit others than the existing practitioners was considered to be implied by section 5. Section 5 provided that "no person other than the present practitioners ... shall be permitted to practise at the bar of any of His Majesty's courts in this province, unless such person shall have been previously entered of and admitted into the said society as a student of the laws ... and shall have been duly called and admitted to the practice of the aw as a barrister, according to the constitutions and establishment thereof". Incorporation of the Society occurred in 1822.
On July 17, 1797, at Wilson's Hotel in Newark, Ontario (now
Niagara-on-the-Lake
Niagara-on-the-Lake is a town in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Niagara Peninsula at the point where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario, across the river from New York, United States. Niagara-on-the-Lake is in the Niagara Region of On ...
), a group of lawyers, including
John White,
Robert Isaac Dey Gray
Robert Isaac Dey Gray (ca. 1772 – October 8, 1804) was a lawyer, judge and political figure in Upper Canada.
He was probably born in New York, but came to Canada with his parents (James Gray and Elizabeth Low) at the beginning of ...
, and Bartholomew Crannell Beardsley, inaugurated the Law Society pursuant to the 1797 act.
The Law Society's first home was at Wilson's Hotel, then from 1799 to 1832 at various temporary locations at York (Toronto) until
Osgoode Hall
Osgoode Hall is a landmark building in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original -storey building was started in 1829 and finished in 1832 from a design by John Ewart and William Warren Baldwin. The structure is named for William Osgoode, ...
was built in 1832. The Law Society continued to retain its original name, even though Upper Canada ceased to exist as a political entity in 1841. Throughout the early 1800s, the Law Society imposed increasingly onerous requirements on potential Upper Canadian lawyers, at one point requiring students-at-law to live at Osgoode Hall while they completed their legal studies. Historian Paul Romney argues such licensing requirements enhanced the legal profession's "prestige" in the young colony, as compared to its position in other North American colonies or the United States.
![Seal of the Law Society of Upper Canada - 1889](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/49/Seal_of_the_Law_Society_of_Upper_Canada_-_1889.jpg)
The Law Society was reformed by statute in 1970, under the ''Law Society Act, 1970''. That statute defined the Society as "a corporation without share capital composed of the Treasurer, the benchers, and other members from time to time". Many of the reforms in the 1971 act were inspired by the
McRuer report
The McRuer commission, officially the Royal Commission Inquiry into Civil Rights, was a royal commission conducted in Ontario, Canada, headed by James Chalmers McRuer.
Premier John Robarts asked McRuer to head the commission. Robarts made his req ...
, officially the Report of the Royal Commission Inquiry into Civil Rights (1968), a wide-ranging set of law reform recommendations for Ontario developed under the leadership of
James Chalmers McRuer
James Chalmers McRuer (August 23, 1890 – October 6, 1985) was a Canadian lawyer, judge, commissioner and author in Ontario.
Biography
Born in Ayr, Oxford County, Ontario, he received his law education from the Osgoode Hall Law School an ...
.
On October 27, 1994, the Law Society adopted a "role statement" holding that it "exists to govern the legal profession in the public interest" and has the "purpose of advancing the cause of justice".
The Law Society faced calls to change the name
Upper Canada
The Province of Upper Canada (french: link=no, province du Haut-Canada) was a part of British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the ...
. Benchers voted to drop the name and replace it with a new one.
On November 2, 2017, the Society's governing body (Convocation) chose "Law Society of Ontario" as the new name.
The name change was made official on May 8, 2018, following amendments to the ''Law Society Act'' as part of the 2018 provincial budget implementation bill.
In 2017, the Law Society enacted a requirement that licensees acknowledge an "obligation to promote equality, diversity and inclusion", referred to as a "statement of principles". The requirement was phased in over several months in late 2017. Following a public campaign called "StopSOP", under which a number of benchers were elected who pledged to repeal the requirement, the requirement was repealed in September 2019.
Some StopSOP advocates argued that the measure was an example of
compelled speech
Compelled speech is a transmission of expression required by law. A related legal concept is ''protected speech''. Just as freedom of speech protects free expression, in many cases it similarly protects an individual from being required to utter o ...
, while opponents argued that acknowledging equal rights was essential.
Oversight
![Osgoode Hall stained glass window](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Osgoode_Hall_stained_glass_window.jpg)
The Law Society regulates the more than 50,000 lawyers 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
disbarment
Disbarment, also known as striking off, is the removal of a lawyer from a bar association or the practice of law, thus revoking their law license or admission to practice law. Disbarment is usually a punishment for unethical or criminal con ...
. It is based in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, at
Osgoode Hall
Osgoode Hall is a landmark building in downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The original -storey building was started in 1829 and finished in 1832 from a design by John Ewart and William Warren Baldwin. The structure is named for William Osgoode, ...
.
Beginning in 1970, pursuant to the ''Law Society Act, 1970'', the Law Society has required that potential licensees demonstrate "good character".
Paralegals
Effective May 1, 2007, as a result of amendments to Ontario's ''Law Society Act'', the Law Society regulates more than 8,000
paralegal
A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant, or paralegal specialist is a professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with a license to practice law. The market for paralegals i ...
licensees in Ontario.
Paralegals are licensed to provide limited legal services, such as providing representation before provincial tribunals.
Tribunal decisions
The Law Society Tribunal is an independent adjudicative tribunal within the Law Society of Ontario that processes, hears and decides regulatory cases about Ontario lawyers and paralegals. It began operations on March 12, 2014.
Effective November 16, 2020,
Malcolm M. Mercer became the chair of the Law Society Tribunal.
Treasurer
The Law Society is headed by a
treasurer
A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance.
Government
The treasury o ...
. He or she is elected by the benchers, who comprise "Convocation" – in effect, the Society's
board of directors
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
, 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.
The current Treasurer is
Jacqueline Horvat (elected on June 15, 2022),
and the current CEO of the Law Society is Diana Miles.
Arms
See also
* ''
CCH Canadian Ltd v Law Society of Upper Canada
''CCH Canadian Ltd v Law Society of Upper Canada'', 0041 SCR 339,''CCH Canadian Ltd. v. Law Society of Upper Canada'', 0041 SCR 339 'CCH''/ref> is a landmark Supreme Court of Canada case that established the threshold of originality and the bou ...
''
*
Federation of Law Societies of Canada
The Federation of Law Societies of Canada (french: Fédération des ordres professionnels de juristes du Canada) is the national coordinating body of Canada's 14 law societies.
History
The Conference of Governing Bodies of the Legal Profession ...
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Law Society of Ontario
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
Legal organizations based in Ontario
1797 establishments in Upper Canada
*
Legal ethics
Organizations established in 1797
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...