Talk:Canadian Bar Association

Bar associations versus Law societies

There is an important distinction to be made between bar associations and law societies in Canada (the previous "see also" section of this article, as well as the categorization of some Canadian law articles, suggests that there may be some confusion on this point). A bar association is an advocacy/professional body that acts in the interests of the legal profession - typically the membership is voluntary. A law society is a regulatory body, usually established by statute, that oversees the legal profession - in order to practice law, a lawyer must be a member of the law society. In other words, a bar association serves the interests of lawyers, whereas a law society serves the public interest. A law society can bring disciplinary proceedings against a lawyer, while a bar association cannot.

The confusion arises because the terms are often used differently in other countries, and in Canada are often used interchangeably by non-lawyers. Moreover, in a generic sense, a law society is a bar association of a sort. Further, the expression "called to the bar" (to denote that a lawyer has received the proper qualifications to practice law) implies, when used in Canada, that it is the bar association that does the calling (when, in fact, it's the law society). Further confusing the issue is the fact that the body that serves the law society function in Quebec, the Barreau du Québec, translates in English as the Bar of Quebec.

I have sorted the Canada-related categories for law societies and bar associations. Please let me know if I have missed anything. Thanks. --Skeezix1000 (talk) 19:16, 6 November 2008 (UTC)