“I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.”

The above quote is often attributed to French philosopher Voltaire, but it is most likely a paraphrase by another writer of something Voltaire may have said. Nonetheless, it should be the heart of the matter where defenders of free speech are concerned. And last month, Canada lost one of its most controversial defenders of free speech when British Columbia lawyer Doug Christie died of cancer.

Last month, the Ontario Bar Association launched a public relations campaign aimed at improving the image of lawyers. I, like many others, actually found out about the campaign through an article in the Globe and Mail. So I went to the OBA’s web site and despite my fairly strong research skills, was unable to find even a single word about it — no link, no press release, nothing, at least not on the public parts of the site. A few lawyer colleagues I spoke to had done the same thing and come up empty as well. Turns out, the OBA has created a micro site, whyiwenttolawschool.ca, which gives lots of details about the plan.

I’ve written a lot in these pages about the issues of diversity and equality — much of it directly related to maintaining the number of women in the legal profession. But inequality in the law goes much further.

This month’s cover story looks at the thorny issue of how discipline is doled out in the profession. There will continue to be disagreement over whether certain members of the bar are treated differently than others, but it is fairly undisputable that small firm and sole practitioners end up in the crosshairs of regulators more often than big firm, government, or in-house lawyers. One of the most controversial discipline proceedings in recent memory is that of the Law Society of Upper Canada’s prosecution of Joseph Groia for incivility, the details of which are covered in the article “Discipline dichotomy.”

In this month’s Making Rain, executive coach Debra Forman delves into some probing questions that revolve around lawyers’ practice management and client development practices.

As we go to press, the Law Society of Upper Canada has decided to put off a debate and vote on the future of articling in Ontario. In mid-October, the LSUC finally released its long-awaited task force report on the future of articling. The issue is so divisive and challenging even the task force could not agree on a single course of action to recommend to Convocation to vote on.

In the final of four videso from Canadian Lawyer’s roundtable series law firm management, moderated by editorial director Gail J. Cohen and sponsored by the Phoenix Legal Group, our panel of lawyer and non-lawyer management gurus examine the growing articling crisis. This hot topic is on the minds of many law students and continues to be a vexing issue for the profession.

In the final of four videos from Canadian Lawyer's roundtable series law firm management, moderated by editorial director Gail J. Cohen and sponsored by the Phoenix Legal Group, our panel of lawyer and non-lawyer management gurus examine the growing articling crisis. This hot topic is on the minds of many law students and continues to be a vexing issue for the profession.