The importance of ethical behaviour and professional responsibility has long been something that lawyers have insisted is a hallmark of their chosen profession. And in spite of public perception to the contrary, many lawyers would argue that the rigorous process through which they must pass to be admitted to the Bar, and the institutionalized code of conduct to which they must adhere if they wish to remain at the Bar, make discussion of these matters necessary or of consequence only when considering isolated and occasional cases of abherent behaviour.
In Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility, Allan Hutchinson makes a convincing case that this view no longer serves the profession well. He argues that the profound changes in the way in which law is practised, and the demographic shifts among those who practise it, demand a new and systematic approach to the subject—one that stresses personal responsibility over professional regulation. Professor Hutchinson's book is both an accessible introduction to legal ethics and professional responsibility for students of law and a provocative call to arms for the profession as a whole.

A member of Osgoode Hall Law School's faculty since 1982, Allan Hutchinson was recently elected to the Royal Society of Canada and made a distinguished research professor of York University. He is currently associate dean (research, graduate studies and external relations). Professor Hutchinson is a legal theorist with an international reputation for his original and provocative writings. As well as publishing in most of the common-law world's leading law journals, he has written or edited many books, including The Civil Litigation Process (Toronto: Emond-Montgomery, 2005). Much of his work has been devoted to examining the failure of law to live up to its democratic promise. His most recent publications are Evolution and the Common Law (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005), The Companies We Keep: Corporate Governance for a Democratic Society (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2005), and Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility, second edition (Toronto: Irwin Law, 2006).

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