I spoke with Law360’s Amanda Jerome about the return of the KC Designation and concerns the bar have about lack of transparency around process, together with the inclusion of former AG Caroline Mulroney on the list of 90+ new KC’s recently announced, here:
The full text below:
Mulroney’s call to bar, KC designation a ‘mockery,’ process should be reviewed, lawyers say
Tuesday, July 11, 2023 @ 5:00 PM | By Amanda Jerome
As Ontario reintroduced the honorary title of King’s counsel (KC), one name on the list of those receiving the designation stood out: former attorney general Caroline Mulroney. Minister Mulroney was called to the Ontario bar just days before the designation was given, leading many in the profession to raise concerns with the process surrounding the awarding of the title.
Mulroney, who is currently Ontario’s minister of francophone affairs and minister of transportation, is an internationally trained lawyer, having been called to the bar in New York. She served as attorney general from June 29, 2018, to June 20, 2019, but was never called to the Ontario bar … until now.
According to the Law Society of Ontario (LSO), Mulroney was administratively called to the bar on June 27 “in accordance with the provisions set out in the Barristers Act.” The announcement of her KC designation was issued on June 30.
The Barristers Act was amended by the Accelerating Access to Justice Act, 2021 to read that “A person who is or has been Attorney General for Ontario or Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada is entitled to be called to the bar of Ontario without complying with the Law Society Act or any of the regulations or rules of the Society as to licensing, examinations, payment of fees or otherwise, and is thereupon entitled to practise at the bar of Her Majesty’s courts in Ontario.”
This amendment, and the subsequent designation, came as a surprise to many in the Ontario bar, with some highlighting “serious problems” with the whole situation.
Gavin MacKenzie, MacKenzie Barristers
“The practice of awarding KCs and QCs [Queen’s counsel] originated in the United Kingdom, where the recipients were leading barristers who were deemed deserving of recognition for their high standards of advocacy and ethics. Unfortunately, in Ontario the practice was tainted by governments awarding the honour to lawyers whose main qualification was service to the political party in power. In 1985, the David Peterson government stopped awarding QCs, an initiative of then Attorney General Ian Scott QC, for this reason,” explained Gavin MacKenzie, a partner at MacKenzie Barristers and former treasurer of the law society.
MacKenzie noted that, 38 years later, “many lawyers would be qualified for the honour if it had been conferred on the traditional British basis, but reinstating the practice after this lapse of time on such a basis would be completely impractical.”
“To reinstate the practice on the illegitimate basis by which it was tainted — which is what the government has evidently done — cannot be justified,” he asserted.
Anita Szigeti, a principal lawyer at Anita Szigeti Advocates, said there are “obviously several serious problems” with both Mulroney’s administrative call and the KC designation.
“The KC designation returning at all came as a shock to the profession. There is no indication that any particular standards or any particular criteria were applied to who is receiving the KC designation,” she said, noting there was “no disclosure of any process” and “no committee membership.”
Anita Szigeti, Anita Szigeti Advocates
The “idea that the designation is meant to legitimately acknowledge a lawyer’s significant contribution to the public,” she said, is “very difficult to follow.”
Szigeti believes there is a “level of outrage among the legal profession, both about the return of the KC designation in the way that it has come about; utterly lacking accountability and transparency.”
“And then, for Caroline Mulroney in particular to receive it, in the circumstances that she has received it is, respectfully, also equally outrageous,” she emphasized.
As for the administrative call of an “internationally trained lawyer who has not gone through the onerous process required of everyone else,” Szigeti said it’s “shocking.”
“It’s very troubling for a host of reasons when you take into account what every other internationally trained lawyer has to go through in order to be called to the bar in Ontario,” she said, noting that she has employed many internationally trained lawyers as articling students and has witnessed their struggle.
“The hurdles they face include reschooling. Many end up having to pay huge fees in order to obtain a master’s or some other way of completing the necessary education,” she said, noting after that “they need to secure an articling position for eight to 10 months, which is very difficult, because there’s quite a lot of stigma still around internationally trained lawyers, and there is a huge and critical shortage of articling positions.”
She noted that once the articles are complete, “they have to pay additional fees and study” to pass the barristers and solicitors bar exams, “which is, again, an onerous task.”
“So, this idea that an internationally trained lawyer like Caroline Mulroney would simply receive an administrative call to the bar and then, a couple of days later, receive this honour for significant contributions is very troubling,” she stressed.
With Mulroney’s name on the list, the honour is “tainted.”
Szigeti noted that “any value inherent in the designation is now tainted as a result of this non-process having been followed with respect to Caroline Mulroney.”
She emphasized that this is “regrettable” because there are “several lawyers” on the KC list who the profession would “readily acknowledge have made significant contributions to access to justice for Ontario citizens.”
Szigeti noted Ena Chadha, Marie Henein and Earl Patrick Shea as examples.
“So, it is unfortunate that the recognition itself is tainted as a result of what is clearly political patronage appointments in this regard,” she said, emphasizing that it dilutes the “value of the recognition, and maybe it no longer merits being called an honour.”
While Mulroney’s call to the bar was shocking, Szigeti stressed that no one is suggesting that any law has been broken.
“What happened here,” she said, is “what was contemplated by that amendment to the Barristers Act that I don’t think anybody really knew about until it’s been exposed right now through this administrative call of Caroline Mulroney.”
“I don’t know how transparent the process was that led to that amendment being enacted, but it is now law, subject to future challenge, but for the minute, it’s good law. So, nothing unlawful has happened in this administrative call, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not offensive or distasteful in terms of the result because it really makes a mockery of the suffering that we expose internationally trained lawyers to,” she said, noting it also makes a “mockery of the bar admissions as a prerequisite to any Ontario law students then becoming a lawyer.”
“What’s the point of all this if you can, if you’re a special person, simply pick up and practise law by virtue of having held a particular other position issued or appointed by a government. It just makes a mockery of all these roadblocks that we put in the path of our Ontario law school graduates, including the bar admissions and the articling process, and it makes a particular mockery of the hardships that we compel internationally trained lawyers to suffer,” she added, noting the whole situation is “very alarming indeed.”
“It’s a slap in the face to everyone who jumped through all the necessary hoops to become a lawyer,” Szigeti insisted.
Breanna Needham
Breanna Needham, a commercial litigation lawyer in Toronto, also raised issues with Mulroney’s designation as a KC, highlighting the legal profession’s foundation in the “proliferation of privilege and power.”
“And even if that’s become less of the case in more recent years, the fact remains that the public perception of the proliferation of privilege and power is the same. And when you have events like this, that public perception is only perpetuated by the very public acts of patronage,” she explained.
Needham emphasized that, “while there are undoubtedly some excellent lawyers on the KC list, the real issue here with both Mulroney and the KC designation is the lack of transparency around the process and the issue of accountability when it comes to the legal profession, which is a profession which is intended to serve the public.”
She noted that “even a mere perception” from the public of this being a “problematic act of patronage is, in and of itself, problematic.”
Needham believes that “the process and how it was implemented should be reviewed” by somebody in a “position to do so and in a position to make comments that can be implemented.”
Law360 Canada reached out to Mulroney’s office for comment but received no reply.
When asked whether the law society received any assurances from Mulroney that she wouldn’t practise law since she hasn’t followed the usual pathways to be called to the bar, the LSO noted that “in accordance with the Barristers Act, if the individual intends to practise law in Ontario, their status will be updated on the LSO licensee directory, and they will need to meet the requirements of all lawyer licensees, which currently includes carrying LAWPRO’s mandatory professional liability insurance, paying annual Law Society fees, submitting an annual report filing and fulfilling continuing professional development obligations.”
“To be clear, while those called to the bar by virtue of the Barristers Act are exempt from paying licensing fees associated with their call, they remain subject to the same regulatory fees and requirements as other licensees, according to their classification. Minister Mulroney has advised the Law Society that her current status is designated as Employed – Not Practising (Working in Government) and therefore falls into the 50 per cent fee-paying category,” Wynna Brown, LSO spokesperson, explained.
If you have any information, story ideas or news tips for Law360 Canada, please contact Amanda Jerome at Amanda.Jerome@lexisnexis.ca or 416-524-2152.
Related Articles
- Mulroney dropped as Ontario AG in cabinet shuffle
- Harnick nominated as new chair of Legal Aid Ontario
- Law society misconduct case examines meanings of ‘specialize’
- The Friday Brief: Managing Editor’s must-read items from this week
- Ontario announces task force to tackle criminal activity in tow truck industry
anitaszigeti 