“It is the facts underlying ethical principles that are important and that make those principles more understandable,” emphasized David Wake, Law’72, quoting from In Search of the Ethical Lawyer. Returning to Queen’s Law, he delivered this year’s McCarthy Tétrault LLP Annual Lecture in Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility. Drawing upon his own experiences as a lawyer, judge and now an independent legislative officer, he used practical examples of ethical dilemmas that people in those roles face today.
 
As Ontario’s Ethics Commissioner, Wake receives 300 to 400 Member’s inquiries per year, or about two a day when in session, further supporting the experience he gained during his career as a litigator, then as a judge and Associate Chief Justice of the Ontario Court of Justice. 

Wake concluded by urging listeners to take the opportunity to see courts from the perspective of those people who only briefly interact with them. “It may remind us of who it is our profession was created to serve. Maybe we can make the courtroom for them a little less awful and frightening and more accessible.”

Director of the McCarthy Tétrault Program Thomas Harrison, Law’01, PhD’16 (Artsci’89, BEd’92), says that the lecture series “keeps Queen's at the forefront of the public discussion about how to improve the provision of legal services and professionalism in Canada.

“David Wake brought a distinct and lively perspective to the range of legal ethical and professional challenges he has dealt with throughout his long career," Harrison adds. “His insights and reflections on his personal experiences in law over the years, grounded in his legal education at Queen's, were both highly engaging and very informative."

Watch the lecture, “Conflicts for Lawyers, Judges and in the Public Service: Overlapping Legal and Ethical Challenges.” 

By Anthony Pugh