Tending the Bar: The Good Character Requirement for Law Society Admission
Every Canadian law society requires that applicants for bar admission be of “good character. ”The author assesses the administration of this requirement and its stated purposes of ensuring ethical conduct by lawyers, protecting the public and maintaining the profession’s reputation. In particular, the premise underlying the use of the good character requirement to fulfill those purposes - that character is the “well-spring of professional conduct in lawyers” - is subjected to critical examination through the theoretical principles of Aristotelian virtue ethics and the empirical evidence of social psychology. The primary thesis of this paper is that as currently justified, administered and applied the good character requirement cannot be defended and must not be maintained. The secondary thesis of the paper, however, is that given the relationship - albeit a qualified one - between character and ethical conduct, a reformed version of the good character requirement can, and arguably should, be maintained by the provincial law societies.
Regulators at the Margins: The Impact of Malpractice Insurers on Solo and Small Firm Lawyers
Solo and small firm lawyers comprise more than three-fifths of all lawyers in private practice and are disproportionately subject to discipline sanctions. Sociolegal scholars have long sought to identify the factors that influence the behavior of these lawyers. Research suggests that lawyer professional liability (“LPL”) insurers regulate the behavior of large firm lawyers through the underwriting process, premium pricing, contract design, and risk management practices in order to reduce the risk of loss. This article explores whether LPL insurers also regulate the behavior of solo and small firm lawyers in ways that encourage responsible conduct. The articles draws on interviews of insurance industry executives, risk management counsel, and insured lawyers, as well as surveys of lawyers and insurer documents, to explore the impact of LPL insurers on the work lives of solo and small firm lawyers. The research reveals that unlike LPL insurers of large law firms, LPL insurers appear to regulate the behavior of solo and small firm lawyers in limited ways. The article explores the reasons why this is the case. It also discusses solo and small firm lawyers’ attitudes about malpractice actions, which shed additional light on the likely efficacy of insurers’ efforts to regulate the behavior of these lawyers. The article identifies a much more effective regulator of lawyer conduct — title insurers — and explains how this regulation occurs and the conditions that make effective regulation possible. It suggests some steps that LPL insurers could take to further encourage solo and small firm lawyers to engage in more responsible behavior.
La inseguridad jurídica en normas de contratación estatal
It is established by different studies that the issue of government procurement has been marred by several factors, the test objective to publicize these factors, we take as starting point the constant conflict between the branches of government to try and organize this subject; will collect and analyze diverse regulatory and case material in order to achieve evidence and demonstrate the different concepts of constant change that produces excessive regulation of the subject procurement and is in turn causing rapid changes that result in legal uncertainty for our law on the Contract Status.