Responsibilities and Requirements
Our mandate, outlined in the Legal Profession Act, is to uphold and protect the public interest in the practice of law. The Society’s Regulations set out the specific responsibilities and standards all lawyers are required to meet and the Code of Professional Conduct creates the standards of conduct for Nova Scotia lawyers.
How We Regulate
We regulate legal services in Nova Scotia through a Triple P (proactive, principled and proportionate), risk-based approach. This approach departs significantly from the historic model of legal profession regulation in Nova Scotia and it continues to evolve in response to a changing legal profession and market for legal services.
A one-size-fits-all regulatory approach no longer reflects the nature of legal services or how they are delivered.
Our aim is to be more responsive to a diverse and profoundly changing environment, to enhance the quality of legal services, to encourage ethical legal practice, to foster innovation in legal services and to increase access to justice. This means continually anticipating and reassessing the needs of clients and communities and new and changing risks and opportunities in practice – and adapting accordingly.
Our regulatory framework describes the what, how and why of our regulatory activities and it includes the following:
NSBS Regulations
The Regulations, made pursuant to the Legal Profession Act, set out the specific responsibilities and standards all lawyers are required to meet.
Code of Professional Conduct
Nova Scotia’s lawyers are expected to conduct themselves and their law practices ethically. Learn about the standards of conduct.
Practice Standards & Guidelines
Learn about Family Law Standards, Real Estate Standards, Law Office Management Standards and Criminal Law Standards.
Trust Accounts
Info on opening and closing a trust account, annual reporting requirements, audits, undistributed trust funds and trust account and client ledger shortages.
Trust Account Regulations FAQs
Info on receipts/deposits, withdrawals, electronic banking, recording, overdrafts, inactive accounts, audits and investigations.
Anti-Money Laundering (Client ID)
Guidelines that assist lawyers to ensure that they are not facilitating or otherwise assisting anyone to commit an illegal act.
Professional Development
We encourage and require a culture of continual learning within Nova Scotia’s legal profession. Find CPD resources, info on the LRA Training Program, and more.
Creating a CPD Plan
Find general information on creating a CPD plan, sample CPD planning templates, setting goals and assessing your CPD plan.
Duty to Report
The Society’s right to self-govern requires transparency and accountability, and an effective means to regulate lawyers and the practice of law in the public interest.