LSUC & Other Organizations

The following resources and links, from the Law Society of Upper Canada and other legal organizations and law schools may be helpful.

Law Society Resources

Rules of Professional Conduct

Equity and Diversity Initiatives

Licensing and Accreditation

Retention of Women in Private Practice Working Group

Other Legal Organizations and Law Schools

The Centre for the Legal Profession is devoted to acting as a bridge between three very distinct constituencies – the legal profession broadly defined, the academy, and the general public including public interest organizations that service the public and its communities. The key constituencies and stakeholders of the Centre include members of the legal bar in all areas of the profession including practicing lawyers, the judiciary, government lawyers, and public interest lawyers. It also includes legal academics and law students across Ontario, and the general public including the public interest organizations that service the public and the media. Working in collaboration with other institutions dedicated to the profession and its ideals remains a central priority for the Centre.

Canadian Association for Legal Ethics

The Canadian Association of Legal Ethics (CALE) is a federal not-for-profit company whose members are academics, lawyers, and judges interested in topics related to ethics and professionalism in the Canadian Legal Profession.  CALE seeks to encourage and faciliate debate on issues of ethics and professionalism in Canada, and to increase awareness about those issues in the public, the profession and the judiciary.

Professionalism and Ethics Centres

American Bar Association, Center for Professional Responsibility

The Center has developed prominence in professional consultation and educational programming by participating in a wide range of national, state and local educational initiatives planned by the ABA, government agencies, academic institutions and other entities devoted to the law. The Center is the core entity within the ABA to enhance public confidence in the profession by improving the ethics, competence and professionalism of lawyers and judges and by strengthening the accountability and effectiveness of the profession’s regulatory structure.

Brandeis University, International Center for Ethics, Justice, and Public Life

The Center’s major projects include the Brandeis Programs in International Justice and Society, the Ethics Center Student Fellowships, and the Slifka Program in Intercommunal Coexistence. In addition, the Center sponsors on-campus events and produces publications related to our mission.

Cardozo School of Law, Jacob Burns Center for Ethics in the Practice of Law

The Jacobs Burns Center for Ethics in the Practice of Law sponsors courses, programs, and events that provoke dialogue and critical thought on ethical and moral issues of professional responsibility.

Center for Ethical Business Cultures

Ethics Practitioners’ Association of Canada

The Ethics Practitioners’ Association of Canada (EPAC) is a pan-Canadian centre of excellence on organizational ethics since 1996. EPAC has complied an inventory of educational resources on ethics in Canada including certificate, diploma and masters programs in ethics, along with individual courses on ethics taught at universities across Canada.

Fordham University School of Law, Louis Stein Center for Law & Ethics

The Stein Center sponsors annual conferences and symposia on ethics and legal professionalism. In addition, the Stein Scholars Program allows students who want to be trained in public interest law to take specialized courses and work in summer-funded internships.

Georgetown Law, Center for the Study of the Legal Profession

The Center for the Study of the Legal Profession sponsors symposia, research, publications, workshops and speakers designed to foster exchanges among scholars, practitioners and students about the ongoing evolution of law practice and the aims and commitments of the profession.

Griffith University, Institute for Ethics, Governance and Law

The Institute for Ethics, Governance and Law is “a joint initiative of the United Nations University, Griffith University and the Queensland University of Technology in association with the Australian National University”.  IEGL aims to be “a globally networked resource” working towards improving governance and building “institutional integrity in governments, corporations, non-government organisations and international institutions.”

Hofstra University School of Law, Institute for the Study of Legal Ethics

Hofstra’s Institute for the Study of Legal Ethics serves as a research center for the study of legal ethics issues. In addition to offering courses in professional responsibility, ISLE sponsors speakers, conferences, symposiums and also provides opportunities for student and faculty research.

New England School of Law, Center for Law and Social Responsibility

The Center for Law and Social Responsibility assists the New England School of Law?s efforts “to perform public service and other work that furthers the interest of justice” through pro bono and other public service activities.

New York State Judicial Institute on Professionalism in the Law

At convocations and meetings around the New York State, the Institute brings together law students and professors, bar leaders, judges, practicing lawyers and members of the public to discuss the core values and aspirations of the profession. The Institute also conducts empirical research in support of its mandate, including surveys and focus groups. On an ongoing basis, the Institute monitors the effectiveness of continuing legal education programs, disciplinary mechanisms and other professionalism initiatives. The Institute publishes the results of its work online or in its Journal, as appropriate.

New York University Law School, Public Interest Law Center

The Public Interest Law Center?s “goal is for all graduates” of NYU “to incorporate public service into their careers.”  “NYU?s dedication to public service manifests itself in the funding, education and support” it provides to its students.North-West University, Centre for Community Law and Development
The Centre for Community Law and Development “provides legal services, training, capacity building programmes and advisory services in the field of law to all members of community sectors in the North West and Mpumalanga Provinces.”

Stanford Law School, Stanford Center on the Legal Profession

Building on the legacy of its predecessor, the Keck Center on Legal Ethics and the Legal Profession, the Center focuses on issues of professional responsibility and the structure of legal practice. The Center offers lectures, panels, workshops, conferences, and continuing education programs

The National Institute for Teaching Ethics and Professionalism

NIFTEP conducts workshops that bring together leading academics and practitioners involved in promoting the teaching of ethics and professionalism. NIFTEP workshops are sponsored by the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Professionalism and the Georgia Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism.

The Texas Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism

The Texas Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism is a non-profit, public foundation that serves as a learning center, a resource center, and a mobilization center for the lawyers and people of Texas. The Center provides courses on professionalism and ethics and presents an annual Professionalism Award to members of the Texas Bar.

Thomas M. Cooley Law School, Center for Ethics and Responsibility

The Thomas M. Cooley Law School fosters a culture of professionalism within the school by focusing on teaching ethics, encouraging service and committing to the surrounding community. The Center gives out a Great Deeds Award and a Professionalism Award to honour members of the community.

University of Miami School of Law, Center for Ethics and Public Service

The Center of Ethics and Public Service operates three in-house clinics that provide legal representation to low-income communities in the fields of children’s rights, public health entitlements, and non-profit economic development. The Center also runs three educational programs in the fields of ethics education, professional training, and community service.

University of San Francisco, Center for Law and Ethics

The purpose of the Center for Applied Legal Ethics is to ensure the continued involvement on issues affecting legal ethics nationally. The program has sponsored a half-day ethics program during orientation, small-group workshops on ethical issues, an ethics symposium on the issue of law review, a legal ethics essay contest, advanced ethics seminar courses, on-campus speaking programs on ethics and a website with an open-dialogue section for discussion of legal ethics.

University of South Carolina School of Law, Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough Center on Professionalism

The Center’s serves as a resource in the research and dissemination of information and ideas, as well as developing and promoting initiatives that further the ideals of professionalism. The Center has assisted in the improvement of professionalism education and training at the USC School of Law, developed a website to provide extensive information concerning professionalism initiatives, hosted three national symposia, and begun empirical research on professionalism issues, particularly mentoring programs.

Canadian Law Schools

The Centre for the Legal Profession is committed to collaboration with law schools in Ontario and across Canada to enhance and expand legal ethics and professionalism curricula.

Ontario

University of Toronto Faculty of Law
Faculté de droit civil de l’université d’Ottawa
Osgoode Hall Law School, York University
Queen’s University Faculty of Law
University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, Common Law Section
The University of Western Ontario Faculty of Law
University of Windsor Faculty of Law

Alberta

University of Alberta Faculty of Law
University of Calgary Faculty of Law

British Columbia

University of British Columbia Faculty of Law
University of Victoria Faculty of Law

Manitoba

University of Manitoba Faculty of Law

New Brunswick

University of New Brunswick Law School

Nova Scotia

Dalhousie Law School

Quebec

McGill University Faculty of Law
Université Laval Faculté de droit
Université de Montréal Faculté de droit

Saskatchewan

Other Legal Organizations

International Forum on Teaching Legal Ethics and Professionalism – An online community and resource library for ethics teachers, scholars, and practitioners worldwide supported by the United Kingdom Centre for Legal Education (UKCLE) and the National Institute for Teaching Ethics and Professionalism (NIFTEP), housed at the Georgia State University College of Law. It is designed as an online gathering place, resource repository, and clearinghouse for an international community of ethics teachers, scholars, and practitioners.There are several other legal organizations that share the Centre for the Legal Profession’s dedication to promoting legal ethics, professionalism and public service.

The Advocates’ Society Institute for Civility & Professionalism
The Institute for Civility & Professionalism provides provide opportunities for training and mentorship to the legal profession in Ontario. The Institute hosts annual workshops designed to foster civility and provides educational curricula to firms and associations to facilitate discussion, education and mentorship.


American Legal Ethics Library

This digital library, run by Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute, contains both the codes and rules setting standards for the professional conduct of lawyers and commentary on the law governing lawyers, organized on a state by state basis.


Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers

The Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers is an independent national organization of lawyers in the United States concentrating in the fields of professional responsibility and legal ethics.


The Canadian Bar Association

The Canadian Bar Association is a professional, voluntary organization which was formed in 1896, and incorporated by a Special Act of Parliament on April 15, 1921. Today, the Association represents some 37,000 lawyers, judges, notaries, law teachers, and law students from across Canada. Approximately two-thirds of all practising lawyers in Canada belong to the CBA.


Community Legal Education Ontario

CLEO is a community legal clinic dedicated to providing low-income and disadvantaged people in Ontario with the legal information they need to understand and exercise their legal rights.


LAWS (Law in Action Within Schools)
LAWS is a partnership between the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and the Toronto District School Board to deliver a 3-year academic and extra-curricular program that teaches young people about the law and supports them to succeed in school.


Law Foundation of Ontario (LFO)

The LFO is a grant-making organization with a long tradition of funding programs and initiatives that promote and enhance justice for all Ontarians.


Law Help Ontario

Law Help Ontario is a project of Pro Bono Law Ontario that provides pro bono legal services to people who cannot afford to hire a lawyer and are unrepresented in a legal matter. The project is currently piloting two self-help centres in courthouses in the Toronto area. In the future, centres may be launched in other locations across Ontario.


Legal Aid Ontario

In 1998, the Ontario government enacted the Legal Aid Services Act in which the province renewed and strengthened its commitment to legal aid. The Act established Legal Aid Ontario, an independent but publicly funded and publicly accountable non-profit corporation, to administer the province’s legal aid program.


Ontario Bar Association

The Ontario Bar Association, a branch of the Canadian Bar Association, is a voluntary association which represents and advances the interest of the legal profession in Ontario while promoting respect for the justice system and the rule of law.


Pro Bono Law Ontario

Pro Bono Law Ontario is a charitable organization that promotes access to justice in Ontario by creating and promoting opportunities for lawyers to provide pro bono legal services to persons of limited means. One of PBLO’s primary roles is to broker relationships between public service providers (legal clinics, community-based organizations) and the private bar (law firms, law associations). PBLO plays an active role in the community, seeking out these opportunities and developing collaborative pro bono projects.


Pro Bono Students Canada (PBSC)

PBSC is the world’s only national pro bono student organization. PBSC programs engage approximately 2,000 law students across Canada who combine education with public service by developing their legal skills while providing critical legal services to hundreds of public interest organizations, community groups, government agencies, legal clinics and lawyers working pro bono, as well as unrepresented individuals at courthouses and administrative tribunals.


Project on Law and Ethics

The Project on Law and Ethics is funded by the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at the Santa Clara University School of Law. The project will entail consultations with legal practitioners and with leading experts in the teaching of legal ethics, and a survey of the approaches currently being used in law schools to teach legal ethics.