Canadian Professional Responsibility (January 2022) Syllabus Review

Posted on by NCA Guides

 

On the 10th of November 2021 the National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) announced the update of various syllabi including the Canadian Professional Responsibility course. This new syllabus has been uploaded for the January 2022 diet. if you haven’t already, you should download the new version and discard the old one (August 2019).

After a thorough review of the new syllabus, I’m certain that the content is not drastically different from the August 2019 version. Note the substantial changes below:

  1. The word student in the syllabus has been changed to candidate.
  2. The primary source material, the text by Alice Woolley, Richard Devlin, and Brent Cotter, ‘Lawyers Ethics and Professional Regulation’, has been updated to the newest edition of the text, the 4th edition.
  3. Additions in the new syllabus also include the following:

  • The Legal Profession: Lawyers in Society and a Society of Lawyers, the last line of the first paragraph under ‘Purpose’ now has “other parties, courts and tribunals” included.
  • Article by Amy Salzyn and Alice Woolley, “Protecting the Public Interest: Law Society Decision Making after Trinity Western University” as Further (Optional) Materials under Part A: The Legal Profession: Lawyers in Society and a Society of Lawyers.
  • Equity, diversity, and inclusion as an issue to consider under Part A: The Legal Profession: Lawyers in Society and a Society of Lawyers, section 2: Regulation of Lawyers and Regulation of the Legal Profession.
  • Links to the Constitutional Act, 1867 as Further (Optional) Materials under Part A: The Legal Profession: Lawyers in Society and a Society of Lawyers, section 2: Regulation of Lawyers and Regulation of the Legal Profession.
  • An article by Amy Salzyn “From Colleague to Cop to Coach” Contemporary Regulation of Lawyer Competence” as Further (Optional Materials) under Part A: The Legal Profession: Lawyers in Society and a Society of Lawyers, section 2: Regulation of Lawyers and Regulation of the Legal Profession.
  • Chapter 4 of the primary source text as a required reading under Part B, Ethics, Lawyering and Professional Regulation, section 1: The Lawyer-Client Relationship.
  • Four (4) new issues to consider under Part B: Ethics, Lawyering and Professional Regulation, section 2: The Preservation of Client Confidences.
    (a) What are the basic confidentiality obligations?
    (b) What is the source of this obligation?
    (c) What is the difference between confidentiality and privilege?
    (d) What exceptions exist to these obligations?
  • ‘Withdrawal’ as an issue to consider under Part B: Ethics, Lawyering and Professional Regulation, section 3: Conflict of Interest.
  • Model Code Rule 3.7 and commentaries as part of the required readings under Part B: Ethics, Lawyering and Professional Regulation, section 3: Conflict of Interest.
  • Article by Alain Roussy, “Conflict of Interest in Canada: the McKercher Decision to Further (Optional) Materials Part B: Ethics, Lawyering and Professional Regulation, section 3: Conflict of Interest.
  • The case of Desputeaux v. Éditions Chouette to Further (Optional) Materials for Part C: Some Specific Practice Areas, section 1: Ethics and Dispute Resolution: Counselling and Negotiation.
  • Model Code Rule 3.6 and commentaries to Required Readings under Part D: Access to Justice.
  • An article by Trevor C. W. Farrow, “What is Access to Justice?” To Further (Optional) Materials under Part D: Access to Justice.
  • Marketing and advertising have been included in the Issues to consider question e) what are the motivations of lawyers, and the techniques they use to acquire clients? under Part B, Ethics, Lawyering and Professional Regulation, section 1: The Lawyer-Client Relationship.

 

  1. Deletions:
  • The edited copies of the Trinity Western University and Groia cases that were an appendix to the syllabus have been removed.
  • The American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional conduct: Preamble and Scope from Further (Optional) Materials under Part A: The Legal Profession: Lawyers in Society and a Society of Lawyers.
  • The Trinity Western University case from required readings from Part A: The Legal Profession: Lawyers in Society and a Society of Lawyers, section 2: Regulation of Lawyers and Regulation of the Legal Profession.
  • The cases of Blank v. Canada and Groia v. Law Society from Required readings of Part B: Ethics, Lawyering and Professional Regulation, section 4: The Adversary System and Lawyers as advocates.
  • Model Code Rule 7.4 and commentaries from the required readings under Part C: Some Specific Practice Areas, section 3: Government Lawyers.

 

  1. Other Changes:
  • Under Part C: Some Specific Practice Areas, Section 3: Lawyers in organizational settings is exchanged with Section 4: Government Lawyers.
  • Part D: Access to Justice, under Issues to consider (a) what is meant by ‘access to justice’? replaces ‘access to legal services’, while b) ‘what are legal needs?’ Replaces ‘who should pay: clients, lawyers and/ Society?’.

The above stated changes enhance the NCA Syllabus making it more robust, but it does not detract greatly from the body of information in the August 2019 syllabus.

 

Funto Omotoso – Canadian Professional Responsibility Guide