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"Artificial Conscience": Professional Elites And Professional Discipline From 1920 To 1950, James A. Smith

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

Recent historical studies of the British and American Bars have identified their professional elites' willingness to define and enforce a concept of legal ethics which restricted less fortunate members' ability to practice and less fortunate individuals' ability to obtain legal assistance. This essay applies the thesis to the Canadian Bar's and especially the Law Society of Upper Canada's use of their increasing control over professional discipline from 1920 to 1950. Identifying similar trends in the Canadian profession's evolution, while emphasizing effects rather than intentions, it makes similar conclusions about the Canadian professional elite's use of such powers during this period.