From time to time I’ve dealt with unrepresented parties before various courts and tribunals. To my surprise, more than once they’ve asked me for legal advice. What could I tell them?
Before turning them away, I told them that my duty is to serve my client only, and that they would have to seek independent legal advice from someone else. In appropriate circumstances, I might refer them to the duty counsel (if available) or Legal Aid Ontario.
When I turn them away, it’s not because I’m resentful of the opposing side. Rather, I have to do so because of my obligation under the lawyers’ Rules of Professional Conduct.
The lawyer’s role in an adversarial proceeding is partisan. His or her duty is to the client and no one else. Even individuals on the same side, (for example, co-accused or co-plaintiffs) with different interests in the same proceeding, and therefore require separate representation. Hence, it’s not uncommon in a child protection proceeding that the mother, the father, and the child each has his or her own lawyer.
While this principle may seem easy to apply, it can be rather difficult under specific circumstances. For example, it would be inappropriate for a lawyer to act for both spouses to draft a separation agreement in an uncontested divorce because of the nature of the matter and the high potential for conflict. Rather, the lawyer must advise the clients of his or her partisan role and may only accept one party as the client.
Occasionally clients may complain about the heavy burden of retaining separate lawyers when dealing with the same transaction. If the both parties cannot afford to be represented at the same time, I sometimes advise them to seek alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation or arbitration. These informal approaches often achieve more satisfactory results and are more efficient with respect to time and cost.
