Entity Regulation

“Entity regulation” simply means regulating the business unit through which legal services are delivered, in addition to regulating the lawyers operating within the entity. This can mean regulating traditional law firms or, possibly, other organizations that provide legal services, such as corporate legal departments.

It is recognized that the environment in which a lawyer practises can play a significant role in determining professional conduct. Law firms have a unique ability to influence behaviours and create firm cultures that can align with ethical standards articulated by law societies - for example, the management of articling students, conflict of interest protocols and file management systems. In this way, law firms bear some responsibility for the conduct of individual lawyers, when, for whatever reason, they do not uphold professional and ethical standards.

To establish a framework for entity regulation, we must determine what kinds of entities should be regulated. One option might be to limit regulation to organizations that include lawyers and provide legal services to the public. A broader application might include in-house counsel and government lawyers.

An entity could include some or all of the following:

• Sole practitioners
• Traditional law firms of any size
• In-house legal departments
• Government legal departments
• Legal Aid
• Pro bono or other non-profit organizations delivering legal services

We envision a flexible approach that recognizes different entities have different characteristics and that regulation must be proportionate to risk.

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Contributions to this consultation are closed for evaluation and review (Summer/Fall 2016). The Prairie law societies will report back on key outcomes.