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20-662: Solicitors in England and Wales are both represented and regulated by the Law Society and, before 2007, the society investigated complaints about its members through its Legal Complaints Service (LCS). However, in September 2003, the Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer , criticised the society, saying: Unfortunately in spite of all efforts, complaints handling is still not efficient and effective. As

40-458: A flat fee as do some other professional complaints services, for example, that of architects . Where a complaint was upheld the firm complained of may have been required to make a contribution to the costs incurred by the Service in dealing with the complaint. Each case was said to have been looked at impartially, the Service working to find a solution acceptable to everyone concerned, including

60-505: A law society ( French : barreau ) with statutory responsibility for regulation of the legal profession in the public interest. These law societies are members of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada , which seeks to increase coordination between its members and encourage the standardization of members' rules and procedures. In Canada's common law jurisdictions, lawyers are both barristers and solicitors . Consequently, there

80-862: A result, in February 2004 the Lord Chancellor exercised his powers under the Access to Justice Act 1999 to appoint a Legal Services Complaints Commissioner to regulate the society. In response to the commissioner's criticisms, in 2005, the Law Society divided its functions among the society, the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Legal Complaints Service but by May 2006, the society's efforts to remedy its own deficiencies were still giving concern to

100-460: A role as part of the justice system, and concern themselves with access to justice. As a result, they may offer paid and unpaid legal assistance to the public or specific target audiences, and have historically been involved in the development of legal aid plans. Law Societies in Australia represent the interests of solicitors and are organised in each State and mainland territory. Australia has

120-605: A split profession, and barristers' interests are represented by separately-organised Bar Councils in each State and territory. The Law Council of Australia is a peak body representing the interests of all legal practitioners at federal level. Each province and territory in Canada has a law society which governs the legal profession, with the exception of Quebec, which has two. Federation of Law Societies of Canada The Federation of Law Societies of Canada ( French : Fédération des ordres professionnels de juristes du Canada )

140-805: A stand-alone ethics course, and possess certain institutional minimums. The right of access to the law has been asserted through the Montreal Declaration. The Declaration was first promulgated in 2002 through the Legal Information Institutes of the world. In Canada, the National Virtual Law Library Group had presented a proposal for a free data base to the Federation of Law Societies of Canada in August 2000. Out of this initiative CanLII

160-480: Is a distinction between barristers and solicitors , solicitors are regulated by the law societies and barristers by a separate bar council . Much has changed for law societies in recent years, with governments in Australia, New Zealand, England, Wales, and Scotland creating government sponsored regulators for lawyers (both barristers and solicitors), leaving to law societies the role of advocacy on behalf of their members. In Canada , each province and territory has

180-585: Is one law society per province or territory to regulate and represent the interests of legal professionals. In Quebec , Canada's only civil law jurisdiction, the legal profession is split between legal advocates , governed by the Bar of Quebec , and civil law notaries , governed by the Chamber of Notaries of Quebec . The 1739/40 Society of Gentleman Practisers in the Courts of Law and Equity has been described as

200-550: Is the national association of the 14 Canadian regulators of the legal profession. The 14 law societies are mandated by the provinces and territories to regulate the legal profession in the public interest. The Conference of Governing Bodies of the Legal Profession in Canada, formed in 1926, was the precursor of the Federation. The Federation was incorporated in 1972. The Federation works with law societies to develop and harmonize rules of conduct and standards for

220-706: The Board for the Legal Complaints Service , chaired by Shamit Saggar . Chief Executive Evans was criticised as actively-seeking complaints about solicitors and as showing an excess of zeal in making work for her organisation in a bid to attract more funding. Complaints handling was further criticised in Sir David Clementi 's 2004 report into regulation of legal services. When the Legal Services Act 2007 fully came into force,

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240-432: The lawyer . The Service's Chief Executive, Deborah Evans, said: The organisation’s vision, an independent, responsive, Legal Complaints Service of quality, mirrors our purpose which is to resolve problems such as a solicitor not having done what they have been instructed to, causing unreasonable delay or failing to keep their client informed about what is going on. The Service and Chief Executive are both steered by

260-655: The Federation formulated the National Mobility Agreement which facilitated the practice of law across provincial jurisdictions. The Federation's Task Force on the Common Law Degree released its final report in 2009. The report recommended that law societies for Canada's common law jurisdictions (all provinces and territories except Quebec) adopt a national minimum requirement for those seeking to enter bar admission programs. It proposed that law schools teach certain minimum competencies,

280-498: The Legal Services Complaints Commissioner was abolished and replaced with an Office for Legal Complaints which supervises the complaints-handling of solicitors, barristers and other legal professionals. Law Society A law society is an association of lawyers with a regulatory role that includes the right to supervise the training, qualifications, and conduct of lawyers. Where there

300-456: The commissioner fined the Law Society £275,000 over the inadequacy of its complaints handling plan for the forthcoming year. The Service was a complaints-handling body, quasi-independent of the Society. It was part of the Law Society, but operated independently. The services offered to consumers were confidential and free at the point of use, the profession having rejected the idea of charging

320-606: The commissioner. As a result, a penalty of £220,000 was levied. The commissioner subsequently recognised that progress was being made and on 22 February 2007, the service came into being. In April 2007, the commissioner advised the society that their Complaints Handling Plan adequately addressed the concerns. However, in April 2008, the commissioner reported that "Results show that despite some improvements in all target areas set, there are still failures ... to consistently apply their policies, processes and customer standards." On 3 June 2008,

340-422: The courts, which decide who gets admitted as a lawyer, and also decide discipline cases. Law societies are often created by legislation and play (or played) significant direct roles in the training, licensing and disciplining of lawyers. The conflict or roles between being a regulator and a trade association is seen by many as giving rise to the recent move to government sponsored regulators. Law societies also play

360-636: The first law society in the United Kingdom . However its relationship to the modern Law Society of England and Wales (founded 1825) is unclear. In the United States , unified bar associations are somewhat similar to law societies; however, there are differences between law societies and the general American phenomenon of bar associations. Usually a bar association is an association of lawyers; lawyers may or may not join as they wish. Regulation of American lawyers usually takes places through

380-423: The profession, and undertakes initiatives at the national level. That includes the sharing of information on important issues and trends. The Federation also intervenes before the courts on behalf of Canada's law societies when issues involve the regulation of the legal profession, the rule of law, or core democratic values. It is also the international voice of Canada's law societies on regulatory issues. In 2002,

400-489: Was created. CanLII is a non-profit organization that provides free access to legal information. It is funded by the Federation. The Board of Directors of CanLII reports to the Federation. CanLII's role is to address the interests of the provincial and territorial law societies as well as the needs of the legal profession and the general public for free access to law. The FLSC is made up of 14 member organizations with one law society from each province and territory. The exception

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