Introduction to Legal Ethics, 2nd Edition

All successful lawyers – regardless of their practice areas and number of years at the bar – have one thing in common: a strong and abiding adherence to legal ethics. The Law Society of Upper Canada (LSUC) and other provincial law societies now mandate the teaching of legal ethics as part of the law school curricula. Written by a law professor with extensive teaching experience in legal ethics, this book covers all of the topics suggested by the Federation of Law Societies of Canada (FLSC) with respect to legal ethics teaching.

The legal ethics principles are written in a manner that are easy to read, digest, and apply to the everyday practice of law. For students of law, the book's fact scenarios will help generate classroom discussions about the various legal ethics issues that arise in the practice of law. For practitioners who could use a refresher, this text explains in a clear and succinct manner the rules that govern professional conduct.

What's New in this Edition?

• Full text of the LSUC Rules of Professional Conduct, with amendments current to May 26, 2016, as well as the FLSC Model Rules (as amended to May 10, 2016)
  • Full text of the LSUC Rules, as well as the FLSC Model Rules where they differ from the LSUC Rules to reflect the growing harmonization between both sets of rules
  • Annotation of the most recent version of the LSUC Rules, and expert commentary elaborating on the differences and similarities between the LSUC Rules and the FLSC Model Rules where applicable
• Contains an updated Sandra's Trust, where a lawyer/protagonist faces a series of professional responsibility issues. Practically illustrates many common professional responsibility dilemmas, and poses questions to the reader about the conduct of the lawyer/protagonist
• Self-study with the updated answer key to Sandra's Trust which elaborates on the appropriate answer to each professional responsibility issue, with reference to both LSUC and FLSC rules
• New Section – A summary of the top 10 leading ethics cases in Canada

Who Should Read This Book?

• Lawyers in private practice – this book helps lawyers better understand legal ethics and rules of professional conduct. It can also be provided to clients to give them an understanding of the rules that govern lawyers' professional lives
• Ontario law students and law professors – This book can be used for the LSUC-required legal ethics and professional responsibility course
• Law students and law professors in the rest of Canada – This book can be used for any course teaching legal ethics and professional conduct
• Law societies in Canada – Can be used as a textbook accompanying any legal ethics CLE courses
• Undergrad students in legal or justice studies – This book complements undergrad courses that teach criminology, legal or justice studies