What options did Paul Bernardo’s lawyer have when his client directed him to retrieve hidden evidence? Where would David Milgaard be today if a lawyer hadn’t doggedly challenged his murder conviction? And what should a defence lawyer do when told her client is a danger to the public?

In this equally inspiring and troubling book, leading Canadian legal academics and practising lawyers draw on real-life stories – case studies, biography, and memoir – to examine the tension between ethics and the law. Whether re-examining high-profile cases, celebrating barristers who tore down barriers, or pointing out current injustices within the justice system, their stories are compelling and raise important questions about what it means to be a “good” lawyer.

Adam Dodek, B.A. (McGill) J.D. (Harvard), L.L.M. (Toronto) is Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, Common Law Section, University of Ottawa where he teaches Public Law and Legislation, Torts and Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility. He is a member of the bars of Ontario and California. Professor Dodek's areas of research include public law, the legal profession, the judiciary and legal ethics.

Adam Dodek's profile page

Alice Woolley is a professor of law at the University of Calgary. She has published numerous articles in the area of legal ethics and professional regulation and is the author of the textbook Understanding Lawyers’ Ethics in Canada (Toronto: LexisNexis, 2011).

Alice Woolley's profile page

There are many different conceptions of what an ethical lawyer is and what legal ethics are and there are tensions among these conceptions that make legal ethics more complex than I had ever imagined … In [In Search of the Ethical Lawyer], Adam Dodek and Alice Woolley have compiled a set of stories that illustrate these diverse aspects of ethical lawyership … I highly recommend this text … All in all, [it] is an indispensable guide for both the seasoned legal practitioner and lay user of the Small Claims Court.

Canadian Law Library Review

In Search of the Ethical Lawyer is an engrossing collection of essays that seeks to inject a measure of humanity and empathy into discussion of some of the most complex and compelling ethical issues in Canadian legal history, past and present. In this regard, it succeeds, providing a perspective that simply cannot be matched by an examination of related court decisions or academic articles … Ethical Lawyer offers lessons and practical advice that today’s lawyers can understand and integrate into their own careers.

Saskatchewan Law Review