The Incorporation of Government Lawyering in the Teaching of Legal Ethics in Canadian Law Schools

Government lawyers, and the specific legal ethics issues that arise in their practices, remain largely overlooked in Canadian legal education. The authors argue that government lawyering should be better incorporated into legal ethics curricula in law schools, for both practical and conceptual reasons. Most importantly, understanding issues unique to government lawyering helps students better understand core concepts in legal ethics, and thus better prepare for the practice of law both in the public and private sectors. While law teachers face serious challenges in incorporating government lawyering into legal ethics education, many of those challenges can be confronted and ameliorated. The authors conclude that the incorporation of government lawyering into the teaching of legal ethics in law schools should be embraced by law teachers in order to better prepare their students for practice, given that ethics and professionalism lie at the core of the legal profession.