The Law Society of Upper Canada, which regulates Ontario lawyers, has just approved a new oath to be sworn by newly admitted lawyers. The new oath extends to some 8 clauses, including a requirement that the lawyer shall "in all things" conduct herself "honestly and with integrity and civility." I have my substantive concerns with the inclusion of civility as something a lawyer swears to do (and on civility as a professional objective in general: here). But the debate around this oath also provoked some thought on the whole issue of oath taking as significant (or not) in thinking about lawyer ethics. What does an oath to "strictly observe and uphold the ethical standards that govern my profession" add to how a lawyer makes decisions? It might create a culture in which ethical behaviour is viewed as more normatively significant. It might, by adding the dimension of "promise keeping", add some heft to ethical obligations. But I would have thought that the substantive moral obligations ultimately need to be sufficient in and of themselves. If they are not, how does the oath help? And if they are, the sworn oath becomes little more than an exclamation point on the existing obligations that bind lawyers. And what about a conflict between the oath and the lawyer's subsequent assessment of what the ethical rules require of her? Does/should an oath - e.g., of civility - temper the lawyer's assessment of what the rules would otherwise require?
An ironic (to me) footnote in all of this is that the report on the oath in Lawyer's Weekly (June 12, 2009, not available on line, unfortunately) mainly concerned itself with objections in the profession to lawyers and paralegals swearing the same oath. Apparently sole practitioners and small firm lawyers in Southwestern Ontario "were vehemently opposed to having the same oaths for lawyers and paralegals, arguing that only lawyers are professionals who are called to the Bar". What does that say about the role of oath taking? Exclamation mark on professionalism or substantive alteration of ethical obligations?