Maintaining high standards of practice

Law is a demanding profession. There are rigorous academic and other requirements for becoming a lawyer in the province. Throughout their career, BC lawyers also work to maintain their legal knowledge and skills. They do so through formal professional development courses and workshops, training programs within law firms and research and study.

To help lawyers maintain professional competence, the Law Society makes practice and ethics advice services available to complement other resources on which lawyers rely: see Practice Support.

The Law Society also requires continual high standards in the practice of law, and that clients have full confidence in the professional competence of their lawyers.

Chapter 3 of the Professional Conduct Handbook addresses the professional obligations of BC lawyers with respect to competence, quality of service and relationship to clients. Chapter 3, section 1 states that, with respect to each area of law in which a BC lawyer practises, the lawyer must acquire and maintain adequate:

• knowledge of the substantive law,
• knowledge of the practice and procedures by which that substantive law can be effectively applied, and
• skills to represent the client's interests effectively.

Addressing competency concerns

When competency concerns arise with respect to particular lawyers, these are often addressed by the Practice Standards Committee and staff. The Committee is responsible for addressing the competency-related problems of specific lawyers, in addition to supporting programs that help all lawyers maintain competence.

In most cases, the Practice Standards Committee receives referrals from the Professional Conduct Department staff, the Complainants' Review Committee or the Discipline Committee, usually as a result of complaints. In other instances, a lawyer may be referred by the Credentials Committee or may voluntarily self-refer for assistance.

The Practice Standards Committee addresses competency concerns in two ways:

• by assisting lawyers whose competency is in question to achieve competency; and
• by restricting from practice incompetent lawyers who pose a danger to present or future clients.

The Committee may have the lawyer meet one-on-one with a senior practitioner to review files, have the lawyer undertake remedial work, review the lawyer's office systems or order a full practice review. A practice review is conducted by a volunteer practitioner and a Law Society staff lawyer.

Through practice reviews and recommendations, as well as follow-up measures in the program, the focus is on remediation when this is possible and economically feasible for the lawyer.

In some cases, lawyers who are struggling in practice may need to overcome shortcomings in their work and to address any underlying problems - such as financial difficulties or medical or personal problems. The Committee may find it necessary to ask a lawyer to restrict practice to certain areas or to work only under the supervision of another lawyer. These remedial measures and restrictions may be temporary to help lawyers get their practices back on track while ensuring continued quality of service for their client.

For more information

For more on practice standards, see sections 27 to 29 of the Legal Profession Act and Rules 3-10 to 3-18 of the Law Society Rules or contact the practice standards program.