What is a “Lawyer” and How are Lawyers Licensed?

The requirements under which someone can call themselves a lawyer differs around the world. In Canada, a lawyer is licensed to provide services in legal matters.

The conditions under which people are permitted to call themselves a lawyer varies significantly around the world. In common law Canada, students typically must complete or substantially complete an undergraduate degree, gain entry to a law school accredited by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada, complete a three year degree, then enter a licensing process. Most lawyers in Canada receive a license by going to a Canadian law school. Other lawyers get their training in another country and come to Canada as “NCA Candidates” (National Committee on Accreditation), which is another pathway to licensure.

Keep in mind that lawyers in Canada still receive their licenses in each province or territory separately. Just because you can practice in Ontario does not mean you can practice in another Canadian jurisdiction. There are various mobility agreements (basically, agreements to practice either temporarily or permanently in another jurisdiction) governing whether and how lawyers can practice in another province or territory.

Because law is a self-governing and self-regulating profession, licensing is regulated by each provincial and territorial law society. Most provinces require students to engage in some sort of practical training program and a set of exams. At the moment, Ontario requires students to complete two written, 100% exams (the barrister and solicitor exams). This is different from other provinces such as Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Nova Scotia which all take a series of courses offered by “CPLED” (Canadian Centre for Professional Legal Education). In British Columbia, students must complete the twelve month Law Society Admission Program (nine months of articles, a ten week Professional Legal Training Course, and two qualification examinations). There are more specifics about the legislation and other rules governing lawyers and law practice in section 3.3.

In Canada, students must “article” – essentially, work in a legal workplace under the supervision of a licensed lawyer and meet a set of articling competencies. Articling is not a requirement in the United States, and it has significant impacts on legal education, law practice and lawyers’ careers. Upon licensure, lawyers can essentially practice in any area of law they wish. Lawyers are also subject to continuing education requirements which vary across Canada.

Students will have been introduced to the concept of the “solicitor-client relationship” – the protected relationship between a lawyer and client. This relationship is at the core of a lawyer’s professional identity.

What lawyers are required to know, do, and value in order to gain and maintain licensure has been hotly debated, especially in Canada where there is no distinction between a solicitor and barrister. Essentially, when a lawyer is called to the Bar they are licensed to practice in any legal area. This has lead to serious questions at the regulatory level regarding competence to practice.

What licensing will look like in the future is also unclear (see, for example, http://www.slaw.ca/2018/07/27/bridges-over-the-chasm-licensing-design-and-the-abolition-of-articling/). There are active conversations regarding whether to retain articling as part of licensure at all. There are many immediate implications for clinical and experiential learning programs, one of which is whether these programs will be required to meet the articling competencies (also called “Experiential Learning Competencies”). Also noteworthy, American states that do not currently have a practice requirement pre-licensure are debating programs similar to articling!

Despite the fact that lawyers are called to the bar and licensed to practice law does not mean learning is over. In fact, lawyers require learning throughout their entire careers.

What is “self regulation”?

Students will have heard that the legal profession is “self regulated” or “self governing”. In Ontario, the Law Society of Ontario (until surprisingly recently called the Law Society of Upper Canada) was created by a piece of legislation. This legislation gives the LSO the power to regulate, license and discipline its members. The Law Society Act and the Rules, Regulations and Guidelines set out how this happens.

Self-regulated professions are required to govern themselves in a manner that serves the “public interest”. There are many ongoing debates about whether lawyers should continue to be able to self-govern.

The LSO has a board of directors who are called “benchers”. Benchers are elected by their peers (other lawyers and, in Ontario, paralegals). Benchers are lawyers, paralegals and lay people. They have (usually) monthly meetings called “Convocation”. During these meetings, they make decisions about policy and other matters. The Chair of Convocation is called the “Treasurer”.

In Ontario, paralegals are also regulated by the LSO. This is not the case in other provinces and territories. There are many ongoing debates about which services paralegals should be licensed to provide and which should be solely the purview of lawyers.