The Law Society of Manitoba (LSM) is the self-governing regulatory body of the

legal profession Legal profession is a profession in which legal professionals study, develop and apply law. Usually, there is a requirement for someone choosing a career in law to first obtain a law degree or some other form of legal education. It is difficult t ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Canada. Membership in the LSM is required in order to practice law in the province. , the LSM had 2072 members with active practising status: 1821 practising within

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, 251 within Manitoba but outside of Winnipeg, and 81 outside of Manitoba. 1282 lawyers practised in private practice with 443 law firms of which 56% are sole practitioners. A gender gap still exists with 830 women practising compared to 1242 men. 56% of those women practice in private practice while 74% of men are in private practice. Those not in private practice work for government, as corporate counsel, or in education. The LSM also operates the Manitoba Law Library (also known as the Great Library), housed on the 3rd floor of the Manitoba Law Courts building.

Overview

The Society sets its own admission requirements. The

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

process to become a lawyer in Manitoba includes having successfully completed the combination of the

bar admission An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

courses and a period of

articles Article often refers to: * Article (grammar), a grammatical element used to indicate definiteness or indefiniteness * Article (publishing), a piece of nonfictional prose that is an independent part of a publication Article may also refer to: G ...

. Since 2002, bar admission requirements have been fulfilled by completion of the courses offered by the

Canadian Centre for Professional Legal Education Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

(CPLED), a joint initiative of the provinces of Manitoba,

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

, and

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

. The LSM exists by virtue of the Legal Professions Act of Manitoba. Section 3(1) of the Act establishes the LSM's purpose. It states: "The purpose of the society is to uphold and protect the public interest in the delivery of legal services with competence, integrity and independence. ". The Act establishes a governing board consisting of "Benchers". The LSM sets the standard of conduct for lawyers within its membership, and disciplines those lawyers who do not meet such standards. The Society's mission statement is a "public well-served by a competent, honorable and independent legal profession," with a mandate to act in the

public interest The public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. Overview Economist Lok Sang Ho in his ''Public Policy and the Public Interest'' argues that the public interest must be assessed impartially and, therefore ...

to ensure that lawyers in Manitoba practice competently and

ethically Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ...

.Mission and Values
" Law Society-of Manitoba. 2017.

References

Legal organizations based in Manitoba * 1877 establishments in Manitoba Organizations established in 1877 {{Canada-org-stub