Peter A Allard School of Law

J. Donald Mawhinney Lectureship in Professional Ethics: Government Lawyers and Legal Ethics: Embracing Complexity While Maintaining Responsibility

Recorded Lecture:
About the Lecture:

Despite comprising a significant proportion of the practicing bar, government lawyers are largely overlooked in the legal literature. These lawyers are subject to two legal regimes that are not designed to interlock and so interact in complex ways – the law governing lawyers and the law governing public servants. This talk will canvass these tensions and propose how law societies can best recognize the legal implications of this complexity without torquing or lessening the professional responsibility of government lawyers. 

Lecture Description:

The J. Donald Mawhinney Lectureship in Professional Ethics was established in honour of J. Donald Mawhinney to recognize his outstanding contributions to British Columbia's legal community, his commitment to legal education and his dedication to practicing with the very highest standard of professional ethics. 2006 was the inaugural J. Donald Mawhinney Lectureship in Professional Ethics. Each year the law school hosts an individual from the judiciary, the practice of law or academia to come to UBC as the J. Donald Mawhinney Lecturer. During the visit, the lecturer presents two lectures, one to students and one to members of the bar, the judiciary and the general public.

This lecture commemorates Mr. Mawhinney's dedication to professional ethics and legal education, and recognizes those whose contributions enabled the Lectureship in Professional Ethics. A special thank you to family, friends and colleagues whose generous contributions have made this lecture possible.

Speaker:
Andrew Flavelle Martin
Andrew Flavelle Martin

Andrew Flavelle Martin is an Assistant Professor in the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University. He holds a JD and SJD from the University of Toronto and an LLM from Georgetown. He articled at the Policy Division of the Ministry of the Attorney General (Ontario) and practiced as a law clerk and staff lawyer to the Court of Appeal for Ontario. His research interests include legal ethics for government lawyers and the Attorney General, as well as the application of Gladue principles in contexts other than criminal sentencing. As a person with mental illness, he is also interested in the regulation of lawyers with disabilities.


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