Legal Ethics: Theories, Cases, and Professional Regulation, 3rd Edition is also available as an ebook. To inquire about pricing for your firm or organization, please contact Debbie Hogan or call 1-888-837-0815 ext. 239.

Legal Ethics: Theories, Cases, and Professional Regulation, 3rd Edition has been newly adapted to reference the Federation of Law Societies’ Model Code of Professional Conduct as its primary source of ethical rules, so that it may apply to all Canadian jurisdictions. With particular attention to the regulator’s perspective, it delivers a practical and predictive assessment of legal ethics, presenting lawyers’ ethical obligations in direct relation to the concepts that are of greatest concern to regulators. This casebook delivers a structured and rational assessment of ethical decision-making by tying it to predictable and measurable costs and benefits, and examining the impact of decision outcomes on the social functions of the legal system.

The third edition of Legal Ethics: Theories, Cases, and Professional Regulation features an expanded section on the Good Character requirement, as well as a new section on Civility, and recent developments in the expanding Duty of Loyalty. The regulatory approach presented by the author demystifies nebulous notions of “ethics” and “morality” by examining the efficient functioning of the legal system, the effect of rules on self-interested actors, the goals of deterrence and compensation, and the implications of a self-governing profession.

Throughout this edition of Legal Ethics: Theories, Cases, and Professional Regulation, surprising theoretical situations are introduced to illuminate the intricacies of legal ethics and demonstrate how they are applied in practice. This casebook delivers a thorough and methodical account of legal ethics that will equip readers with the insight and analytical capacity to apply the knowledge in a wide variety of practical and professional contexts.

• References the Federation of Law Societies’ Model Code of Professional Conduct as the primary source of ethical rules
• Introduces a regulatory model of legal ethics that assesses the resource and efficiency implications of ethical duties and their overall impact on the functioning of the legal system
• Demonstrates that moral and ethical systems are most effectively regulated through an approach rooted in micro-economic analysis
• Clarifies notions of “morality” and “ethics” by focusing on:
• the efficient functioning of the legal system
• the effect of particular rules on self-interested actors
• the goals of deterrence and compensation
• the impact of a self-governing profession
• Includes an expanded section on “The Good Character”
• Melnick v. Law Society of Upper Canada, 2013 ONLSAP 27
• A new section addresses “Civility” and the cost implications of regulating “rude behaviour” by lawyers
• Groia v. Law Society of Upper Canada, 2013 ONSLAP 41
• Accounts for recent developments in the expanding “Duty of Loyalty,” with particular attention to conflicts arising between a lawyer’s current clients
• Scrutinizes the Supreme Court’s re-articulation of “The Bright Line Test” in Canadian National Railway Co. v. McKercher LLP, 2013 SCC 39
• Examines conflict and withdrawal, and non-payment fees
• R. v. Cunningham, 2010 SCC 10

Table of Contents