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Article
Mental Illness and Professional Regulation: The Duty to Report a Fellow Lawyer to the Society
Articles, Book Chapters, & Popular Press
  • Andrew Flavelle Martin, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2021
Keywords
  • Duty to report,
  • law societies,
  • mental illness
Abstract

Lawyers have a largely overlooked duty to report other lawyers to the law society in a range of circumstances. This duty contemplates mental illness, explicitly or implicitly, as a reportable condition and thus engages issues of stigma and discrimination. This article analyzes this reporting duty with a focus on its implications for lawyers with disabilities. The article begins by examining the history and text of the rule and considering several legal problems it presents. It then canvasses law societies’ duties to their members with disabilities under human rights law and analyzes how the duty to report interacts with human rights law. It concludes by making recommendations for law societies, including amendments to the rule containing the reporting duty.

Publication Abbreviation
Alta L Rev
Citation Information
Andrew Flavelle Martin, "Mental Illness and Professional Regulation: The Duty to Report a Fellow Lawyer to the Society" (2021) 58:3 Alta L Rev 659.