Atlantic regional firm Cox & Palmer has grown by 14 new lawyers in the wake of the dissolution of New Brunswick’s Barry Spalding firm on Dec. 31, 2012.

The majority of former Barry Spalding’s lawyers — partners John P. Barry, Hélène L. Beaulieu, Bruce M. Logan, Duane M. McAfee, Brenda G. Noble, David G. O’Brien, Howard A. Spalding, Deirdre L. Wade, and Peter T. Zed; associates Jack M. Blackier, Talia C. Profit, Colin A. Fraser, and Patrick Dunn; and counsel Richard E. DeBow — moved over to Cox & Palmer’s Moncton, N.B., and Saint John, N.B., offices.

Most are commercial and insurance litigators while others joined the firm’s corporate transaction group. These new additions bring Cox & Palmer’s total number of lawyers to just under 200.

However, not everyone made the move to Cox & Palmer. Former Barry Spalding partners Michael D. Brenton, William C. Kean, Maria G. Henheffer, and Donald V. Keenan, along with three associates, launched a new law firm called BrentonKean.

Brenton says it was early last year that several partners at Barry Spalding expressed an interest in moving to a regional firm and Cox & Palmer was a good fit. Although the offer to join the firm was extended to everyone, Brenton says some lawyers were concerned about conflicts issues.

“In this small province, as you can imagine there are only a limited number of larger firms and if everybody gets together then we have real conflict problems,” says Brenton. “So we thanked [Cox & Palmer] . . . declined their offer, and went our own way, primarily to serve our long-standing clients who would’ve been conflicted in a significant way had we joined Cox & Palmer.”

Brenton adds that the firm did not break up over money.

“We were a thriving firm, a very successful firm, and that continued right up until it was dissolved,” he tells Legal Feeds.

George Cooper, Cox & Palmer’s New Brunswick managing partner, says the move adds strength, depth, and expertise to the firm.

“[A]s the consolidation in the legal market in Canada and Atlantic Canada has continued, this is a really good fit for both the lawyers joining and for Cox & Palmer,” he tells Legal Feeds.

Cooper says this change wasn’t a result of the economic climate.

“We’re both financially very strong organizations and we were pleased to marry strength to strength,” he says.

Cooper argues that there have been waves of consolidation. “This is part of a trend that I think is driven by client needs for greater specialization and enhanced levels of service, which larger platforms are generally able to provide,” he says.

John Ohnjec, division director at Robert Half Legal, told Law Times last month that firms have been re-evaluating since the economic downturn to see which practice areas are in demand and then try to reshape their businesses accordingly.

“While I don’t think that necessarily downsizing is the trend, I think the definite trend is to look inward as to what their model is and what’s working and what isn’t working and in some cases that will entail the need to downsize, to become leaner while still being able to service their clients,” he said.

With contributions from Adam Dodek (University of Ottawa), Malcolm Mercer (McCarthy Tétrault LLP), Richard Devlin (Dalhousie University), and other members of the Canadian Legal Ethics Listserv, here is my articulation of the top 10 Canadian legal ethics stories for 2012:

1. The Law Society of Upper Canada’s modification of articling to allow lawyer licensing through alternative forms of training

Will the public in Ontario be well served by this change? Will the profession be improved in the long run? There was clearly a gap between the number of qualified people seeking articling positions and the number of positions available in Ontario, a gap that also exists elsewhere in Canada. Articling had become a barrier to entry to the profession that was hard to justify as a matter of principle or of sound public policy. But whether this solution to that gap represents regulation of the profession in the public interest remains to be seen.

2. Regulation of civility

A conduct committee of the LSUC issued its decision holding that Joe Groia was guilty of professional misconduct for incivility. The Supreme Court of Canada upheld the decision of the Barreau du Quebec sanctioning Gilles Doré for his incivility in writing a critical and intemperate letter to a judge. I was an expert witness in the Groia case (for Groia) and continue to be critical of the law societies’ regulation of civility, and most especially of its decision on Groia. My most recent thoughts are in a paper forthcoming in the Dalhousie Law Journal, (sneek peek here. Law Times article on a recent panel held on this issue is here.

3. The conduct of the Canadian Judicial Council Inquiry Committee regarding Justice Lori Douglas

The inquiry committee hearing was brought about in response to the existence of pornographic photographs on the internet of Justice Douglas and to the disclosure (or not) of the existence of those photographs at the time she was appointed to the bench. In 2012, the proceedings were disrupted by a number of judicial review applications, and the resignation of independent counsel Guy Pratte. Hearings are still not complete.

4.  Ongoing adoption of the Federation of Law Societies’ Model Code of Professional Conduct by provincial law societies

As I have discussed previously, the adoption of the FLS code has its downsides, at least in Alberta, where the prior Code of Conduct was a superior document. However, the willingness of the law societies to work towards creating a common set of ethical standards for Canadian lawyers is a remarkable development in Canadian lawyer regulation, which has not generally featured a high level of national coordination.

5. Expansion of legal education

2012 saw the first class of Thompson Rivers University finish its first year of law school and “overwhelming interest” in attending the law school at Lakehead University. In addition, law schools outside of Canada seek to serve the market for legal education in Canada, with Arizona State University seeking to grant a “North American law degree” to qualify graduates to practise law in both Canada and the United States. All of these facts appear to be true: there is enormous demand for law school; individual litigants cannot afford counsel in litigated cases; there is a shortage of articling positions; many sole practitioners operate in economically marginal circumstances; it is not clear that all Canadian lawyers are competent and providing a high quality of legal services. This demonstrates the point that regulation of the legal services market is complex, and structuring regulation to foster the accomplishment of optimal economic outcomes very difficult.

6. The proposal for a private, religious law school

Trinity Western University has proposed the first private and religious law school in Canada. TWU’s application is seen by many in the legal academy as undesirable given its official policy that students must agree to refrain from “homosexual behaviour.”

7. Conflicts of interest

The question of regulating conflicts of interest was less at the forefront of Canadian legal ethics than in past years, and less than it is likely to be in 2013. This year, the Supreme Court of Canada will likely decide Canadian National Railway v McKercher LLP. The LSUC is also likely to release its decision in the disciplinary hearing of Beth DeMerchant and Darren Sukonick in their representation of Hollinger Inc. It should also be noted as evidence of the ongoing controversy around conflicts that in Alberta, the law society only adopted the FLS code’s approach to conflicts of interest after modifying it significantly.

8. Self-represented and “organized pseudolegal commercial argument” litigants

Self-represented litigants continue to be a significant part of judicial dispute resolution, and the problems with ensuring fairness to those litigants continue. The issue of OPCA litigants was addressed by Associate Chief Justice Rooke in his decision in Meads v. Meads. Although OPCA litigants may be represented, and so do not raise issues identical to those created by self-represented litigants, OPCA litigants similarly raise challenges for ensuring the fair administration of justice — for those they litigate against and for themselves.

9. Internationalization and regulation of law firms

In 2011 Macleod Dixon merged with the international law firm Norton Rose LLP. In November 2012 Fraser Milner Casgrain announced its intentions to merge with SNR Denton and Salans in 2013. This is a significant development in Canada, where previously the pre-eminent firms have been Canadian based, with only limited international operations Does the internationalization of Canada’s law firms foreshadow other changes here reflecting those elsewhere, or will Canada remain the conservative outlier that it has been since other jurisdictions moved away from self-regulation and it did not? It should be acknowledged that British Columbia has taken steps toward the direct regulation of law firms in 2012 through amendment of the legislation empowering its law society.. This follows from Nova Scotia’s prior amendment of its legislation permitting findings of professional misconduct against law firms. Both are welcome developments.

10. International Legal Ethics Conference and Canadian Association of Legal Ethics

In 2012, Canada hosted to the 5th bi-ennial International Legal Ethics Conference. Last year also saw the formation of the Canadian Association of Legal Ethics. These developments show the growing sophistication of legal ethics in Canada, which as recently as 2000 Adam Dodek described as a “subject in search of scholarship” [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1267228 ].


This is an edited version of University of Calgary law professor Alice Woolley’s top 10 legal ethics post from Ablawg. Click here to read the full version.

Canada

Judge orders two week long native railway blockade in Sarnia dismantled, The Globe and Mail

B.C. woman takes husband's former mistress to court over harassing messages, phone calls, Vancouver Sun

Charges 'can't be ruled out' for owner of pit bulls involved in deadly dog fight, Calgary Herald 


United States

Federal judge rejects New York Times' bid to force gov't to release more info on drone strikes, Reuters

State of Kansas seeks to hold sperm donor responsible for child support, Reuters


International

Indian woman's murderers charged, members of bar association refuse to represent them, Reuters

Supreme Court of Sri Lanka finds impeachment of chief justice illegal, Reuters