This article examines the two models for the role of lawyers (the "counselor" approach and the "hired gun" approach) as espoused in legal literature. It then looks at the guidance given lawyers in Ontario, Canada, in choosing between the two roles in the Professional Conduct Handbook of The Law Society of Upper Canada. The Article then compares those models and the Law Society's directives concerning them, to the actual roles practiced by lawyers as members of the Ontario Bar. The purpose of this Article is to determine the way in which the roles adopted by practising lawyers compare to the roles of a lawyer as articulated in legal literature and the professional ethical codes.