how to check a canadian lawyer for conduct issues

How do I find a good lawyer in Canada?

Find-A-Lawyer LOOKING FOR A LAWYER? Use our convenient search tool to help you find a CBA member who specializes in the area of law you need. Search by name, location, area of practice and preferred language. Are you a CBA member and want to be listed? Sign-up. Last Name Firm Name Within LOCATION (INCLUDE PROVINCE AFTER CITY E.G. "OTTAWA, ON")

How to choose an immigration lawyer in Canada?

Connect with the Client Service Centre to get confirmation of the lawyer's or paralegal's status, discipline history; and whether they are licensed and entitled to provide legal services. Learn more Other sources of information:

What are the rules of Professional Conduct for lawyers?

Jan 06, 2021 · The CBA is a leading voice and resource for ethics and professional responsibility in Canada’s legal profession. Use our professional practice tools to help address your ethical and professional responsibilities, including: Codes of Professional Conduct. Conflicts of Interest. Solicitor-Client Privilege. Ethics in Your Practice. Anti-Corruption.

What should I ask my lawyer during my consultation?

You can check if a person is licensed to represent immigrants or to give advice. Citizenship or immigration consultants must be a member of the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants.; Lawyers or notaries must be a member of a Canadian provincial or territorial law society, or the Chambre des notaires du Québec.; Paralegals (Ontario only) must be members …

Lawyer and Paralegal Directory

Search our directory by name, city, postal code, area of law, and language. Each listing includes the practising status of the lawyer or paralegal.

Directory of Certified Specialists

Search by speciality area for lawyers who provide specialist assistance in complex matters and to facilitate referrals.

Additional information from the Law Society

Connect with the Client Service Centre to get confirmation of the lawyer's or paralegal's status, discipline history; and whether they are licensed and entitled to provide legal services.

Other sources of information

See Regulatory Proceedings for information about Regulatory Notices, Current Hearings and Orders and Dispositions. Please note that limited information is available regarding discipline decisions prior to 1986.#N#Learn more about protecting yourself from illegal practitioners and Law Society prosecutions of illegal practitioners .

Law societies in each province and territory

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Other contacts

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Why Use Lawyers.com to Find a Lawyer?

Lawyers.com is an excellent starting point as you look to find a successful resolution to your legal challenge. We make it easy to search for attorneys by location and practice area and offer critical advantages to simplify the process of selecting the correct attorney for you.

What to consider when hiring a lawyer

Whatever your particular legal needs might be, it is likely that many attorneys have the education, skill and experience to serve you effectively. However, finding the right fit might require you to review the credentials of several lawyers and examine several different considerations.

What is the duty of a lawyer to commit to the client's cause?

The lawyer’s duty to commit to the client’s cause prevents the lawyer from withdrawing from representation of a current client , especially summarily and unexpectedly in order to circumvent the conflict-of-interest rules. This duty is reflected in Rule 3.7-1 dealing with withdrawal from representation.

What is a client in law?

A client is a person who. consults a lawyer and on whose behalf the lawyer renders or agrees to render legal services; or. having consulted the lawyer, reason ably concludes that the lawyer has agreed to render legal services on their behalf.

How to determine if there is a conflict of interest?

To determine whether there is a conflict of interest that would prevent you from acting for a client: 1 First, determine if there is a conflict of interest. 2 Second, if there is a conflict of interest, determine whether you may act despite the conflict of interest

What are some examples of conflicts of interest?

For example, a lawyer may act as a director of a corporation or as a trustee. If a lawyer acts against such a corporation or trust, there may be a conflict of interest.

What is conflict of interest in law?

A “conflict of interest” is defined in the Rules as the existence of a substantial risk that a lawyer’s loyalty to or representation of a client would be materially and adversely affected by the lawyer’s own interest or the lawyer’s duties to another client, a former client or a third person.

What is the duty of loyalty in a lawyer?

In addition to the duty of representation arising from the retainer, the law imposes other duties on the lawyer, particularly the duty of loyalty. Aspects of the duty of loyalty include: the duty of commitment to the client’s cause, the duty of candour and the duty of confidentiality. The rule on conflicts protects all of these duties ...

What is the duty of candour?

Duty of candour. The duty of candour requires a lawyer or law firm to advise an existing client of all matters relevant to the retainer. Even where a lawyer concludes that there is no conflict of interest in acting against a current client, the duty of candour may require that the client be advised of the adverse retainer in order ...

Types of complaints FCAC deals with

Federally regulated entities ( RE s)have certain legal obligations to consumers, ranging from account-opening requirements to information they must provide you. FCAC investigates complaints that relate to a possible breach of these market conduct obligations.

Who can file a complaint and how to do so

Any consumer can file a complaint with FCAC, and there’s no cost involved. Call FCAC toll-free at 1-866-461-3222 or send a message.

FCAC is responsible for federally regulated entities (REs)

As an agency of the federal government, FCAC investigate complaints about RE s under federal jurisdiction. These entities include all banks and all federally incorporated or registered insurance, trust and loan companies, retail associations, federal credit unions and payment card network operators.

What to do before contacting FCAC

You must try to resolve your complaint directly with your RE. Keep in mind that FCAC does not resolve complaints, nor is it mandated to provide redress or compensation. In order to resolve your complaint, you must file your complaint with your RE by following its complaint-handling procedure.

How FCAC handles your complaint

FCAC will ask for details about your complaint and assess whether it involves a possible breach of a law, code of conduct or public commitment, or determine whether it may fall within the jurisdiction of another government department or agency.

Why FCAC is interested in your complaint

When FCAC is alerted to potential breaches, it can take steps to ensure compliance. FCAC also reports to Parliament on the types of complaints it receives and the performance of regulated entities in meeting their legal obligations. This information is released to the media and other interested parties.

Where to get more information

Call FCAC toll-free at 1-866-461-3222. You can learn more about the market conduct obligations of regulated entities on Your rights and responsibilities.

How to file a complaint against a lawyer?

In most states, you can file your complaint by mailing in a state-issued complaint form or a letter with the lawyer's name and contact information, your contact information, a description of the problem, and copies of relevant documents. In some states, you may be able to lodge your complaint over the phone or online.

What are the rules of professional conduct?

The American Bar Association publishes the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, which lists standard ethical violations and best practices for lawyers. Some states have adopted the model rules as their own ethical rules, while others use it as a guide and modify or add rules.

Who reviews ethics complaints?

In most cases, a board of lawyers and non-lawyers will review the complaint. If there’s a potential ethical violation, the board will give the lawyer a copy of the complaint and an opportunity to respond.

Do lawyers make mistakes?

Lawyers are human, and like everyone else, they sometimes make mistakes when representing clients. In some cases, the mistakes are small and easily fixable—for example, not filing enough copies of a document with the court or needing to reschedule a meeting. Other times, the mistakes are serious—such as missing the deadline to file a lawsuit, ...

What is the responsibility of a lawyer?

Lawyers are given a lot of responsibility and often deal with serious matters, from criminal charges to child custody to tax and other financial matters. When you hire a lawyer, you are trusting him or her to represent your interests in the best manner possible.

What is the duty of a lawyer?

Lawyers have a duty to keep their clients reasonably informed about the status of their cases, to respond promptly to requests for information, and to consult with their clients about important decisions in their cases (for example, whether to accept a settlement offer). Not returning the client's documents.

What happens if a client fires a lawyer?

When a client fires a lawyer and asks for the file, the lawyer must promptly return it. In some states, such as California, the lawyer must return the file even if attorneys’ fees haven’t been paid in full. Lawyer incompetence. Lawyers must have the knowledge and experience to competently handle any case that they take on.