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Ethics
The Profession has ethical standards
- The feature which distinguishes a profession from a trade is that a profession has, over
many years, developed a comprehensive code of ethical standards to which all of its
members ascribe.
- In the case of legal profession, governing standards are contained in the Legal
Profession Act, the Rules of the Law Society of Saskatchewan, the Code of Professional
Conduct, and the rulings and opinions of professional conduct rendered by the Law Society.
Conflict of Interest
- In many cases a lawyer may act for more than one party in a legal transaction. As
long as the clients' legal interests coincide and there is full disclosure, there is no
problem.
- However, there are many instances where a lawyer cannot or should not act for more than
one party because the duty and loyalty owed to one party may, or is likely to, become
adverse to the duty and loyalty owed to the other party. If a lawyer in such
circumstances acts for more than one party and a conflict arises, the member cannot
continue to act for either party.
Lawyers in Business with Clients
- For the same reason that lawyers should not act for parties with conflicting interests,
they should not participate in business ventures with their clients. This exposes
the lawyer to the risk that he or she may have to act to protect his or her interests over
those of the client.
- The Benchers enforce the general principle that a lawyer shall not act for a client
where there is a possibility, no matter how remote, that his or her duty to the client
conflicts with his or her personal interests.
Privileged Information
- All communication between a client and his or her lawyer is privileged and cannot be
disclosed without the authorization of the client. There are only limited exclusions
to this rigid principle. Such instances include the Criminal Code and the Income Tax
Act.
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