Rule 1

Rule 1 Citation and Interpretation

1.01 CITATION

Citation

1.01 (1) These Rules may be cited as the Paralegal Rules of Conduct.

1.02 INTERPRETATION

Definitions

1.02 In these Rules,

"affiliated entity" means any person or group of persons other than a person or group authorized to provide legal services in Ontario;

"affiliation" means the joining on a regular basis of a paralegal or group of paralegals with an affiliated entity in the delivery or promotion and delivery of the legal services of the paralegal or group of paralegals and the non-legal services of the affiliated entity;

[New - October 2008]

"associate" includes:

(a) a licensee who provides legal services in a firm of licensees through an employment or other contractual relationship; and

(b) a non-licensee employee of a multi-discipline practice providing services that support or supplement the practice of law or provision of legal services;

[Amended - October 2014]

"client" means a person who:

(a) consults a paralegal and on whose behalf the paralegal provides or agrees to provide legal services; or

(b) having consulted the paralegal, reasonably concludes that the paralegal has agreed to provide legal services on his or her behalf

and includes a client of the firm of which the paralegal is a partner or associate, whether or not the paralegal handles the client's work;

"conflict of interest" means the existence of a substantial risk that a paralegal's loyalty to or representation of a client would be materially and adversely affected by the paralegal's own interest or the paralegal's duties to another client, a former client or a third person. The risk must be more than a mere possibility; there must be a genuine, serious risk to the duty of loyalty or to client representation arising from the retainer;

"consent" means fully informed and voluntary consent after disclosure:

(a) in writing, provided that where more than one person consents, each signs the same or a separate document recording the consent, or

(b) orally, provided that each person consenting receives a separate written communication recording their consent as soon as practicable;

[Amended - October 2014]

"Law Society" means the Law Society of Ontario;

"licensee" means,

(a) a person licensed to practise law in Ontario as a barrister and solicitor, or

(b) a person licensed to provide legal services in Ontario;

"legal practitioner" means a person

(a) who is a licensee;

(b) who is not a licensee but who is a member of the bar of a Canadian jurisdiction, other than Ontario, and who is authorized to practise law as a barrister and solicitor in that other jurisdiction;

[Amended - October 2014]

"limited scope retainer" means the provision of legal services by a paralegal for part, but not all, of a client's legal matter by agreement between the paralegal and the client;

[Amended - October 2014]

"paralegal" means a paralegal licensee of the Law Society;

"paralegal firm" includes one or more paralegals practising in a sole proprietorship, partnership or professional corporation;

"Rules" means the Paralegal Rules of Conduct;

"tribunal" includes courts, boards, arbitrators, mediators, administrative agencies, and bodies that resolve disputes, regardless of their function or the informality of their procedures.