Canada’s Governor General is appointed, not elected. The woman or man in the job represents the monarchy, largely as a ceremonial figurehead. But obviously, inevitably, the person in that role brings some individuality to the job.<\/p>\n
For all of David Johnston’s famous down-to-earth charm, he’s been a\u00a0 pretty low-key Governor General so far. But, among other things, Johnston has been a lawyer, professor, dean and university president. He is also the father of 5 daughters, three of whom also became lawyers. So when Johnston opened the Canadian Bar Association\u2019s annual meeting in Halifax on Sunday, he had more than sufficient background to lay a substantive critique of the legal profession.<\/p>\n
And he did. As detailed in this Ottawa Citizen account<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cWe need a new model for professionalism in law,\u201d he said. \u201cTo borrow a saying from a sister profession: physician, heal thyself.\u201d<\/p>\n A former dean of law at the University of Western Ontario, Johnston said lawyers such as himself enjoy a \u201csocial contract\u201d with society: In return for self-regulation and a monopoly over the practice of law, he said, \u201cWe are duty bound\u201d to improve justice and serve the public good.<\/p>\n Instead, he said the profession is failing to uphold its end of the deal.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Johnston cited legal log-jams in Canadian courts, where, basically, justice delayed becomes justice denied. But beyond Canadian courts and law schools, Johnston is also asking for a healthy critique of the entire profession, in all countries.<\/p>\n \u201cHow many lawyers \u2018papered\u2019 the deals that involved fraudulent statements of assets, liabilities, income and valuations?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cHow many lawyers \u2018sounded the alarm\u2019 about conflict of interest in the web of financial transactions and creative financial instruments?<\/p>\n \u201cHow many lawyers were silent in the face of a pattern of deregulation which has left the economy naked to excessive leverage, and which any thoughtful observer knew was bound to have its inevitable pendulum swing?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Among other points, Johnston argues that Canadian law schools don’t do enough to support attract a wide variety of law students or stay in touch with the ‘real world’. The legal profession as a whole, he says, fails to create a reasonable work\/life balance, which typically penalizes women who want children as well as a legal career.<\/p>\n It’s always a risk, and a possible cause of controversy, when a Governor General deviates from pure ceremony. But Johnston came into the job saying he aspired to help a great country become even better. With that as his starting point, the response seems largely favorable. According to the same Citizen article:<\/p>\n It is rare for a Canadian Governor General to make such frank public speeches, but Rod Snow, president of the Canadian Bar Association, said he welcomed Johnston\u2019s honest words.<\/p>\n \u201cHe talked about things that he knows,\u201d Snow said. \u201cHe probably gauged that this audience wanted to hear something of substance and I think he probably got it right.\u201d<\/p>\n Ontario Bar Association president Lee Akasaki said he was surprised by Johnston\u2019s strong stand, but also agreed with it.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to get the bar back on track, be more relevant to the people we serve and hopefully in doing that we\u2019ll improve the image of lawyers,\u201d he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n What do you think? Is the legal profession part of the problem? Can it become a more useful part of the solution? And what might have to change for that to happen?<\/p>\n P.S. Read the text of Johnston’s address here<\/a>.<\/p>\n