B.C. lawyer overhaul bill survives court challenge

The B.C. Supreme Court has ruled the provincial government’s legislation to overhaul regulation of lawyers, notaries and other legal professions is not unconstitutional. 

The government in 2024 passed a bill to create a new regulator with jurisdiction over lawyers, notaries and paralegals, eliminating the long-standing model of “self-governance and self-regulation” of lawyers. 

The Law Society of B.C., the self-regulation body governing the legal profession in the province since 1874, and the Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia filed legal challenges, claiming the overhaul unconstitutionally undermines the independence of lawyers. 

The society argued the Constitution doesn’t allow provincial legislatures from making laws that undermine “an independent bar,” claiming the legislation overturned more than 150 years of “self-governance and self-regulation.” 

It underscored the importance of the profession’s independence, citing events in the United States by the Trump administration that it called an “unprecedented assault on lawyers and the rule of law.” 

The Canadian Bar Association, an intervener in the case, meanwhile claimed that eliminating self-regulation in favour of state control over lawyers granted “unnecessarily broad powers to government to directly regulate the practice of law.”

The B.C. government, the court ruling says, acknowledged the “crucial role” independent lawyers play in the justice system, but argued “that lawyers are not constitutionally guaranteed the right to be free from any and all forms of democratic regulation.” 

The legislation known as Bill 21 meant elected lawyers would not make up a majority of the new regulator’s governing board, which the ruling called the “principal focus” of the Law Society of B.C.’s legal challenge.

The government claimed the society’s electoral model of lawyers electing lawyers “creates an appearance, and sometimes the reality, of regulatory capture that undermines public confidence in the regulation of the practice of law.”

But the society warned of a “‘waterfall effect” of numerous measures contained in Bill 21 that, taken together, would significantly erode the independence of the bar.

Chief Justice Ron Skolrood called the bill a “dramatic change” to how lawyers are regulated in B.C., but he wasn’t convinced the new regulatory regime is unconstitutional. 

“The powers given to cabinet in Bill 21 are not at odds with the principle of independence of the bar, nor do they amount to direct government regulation,” Skolrood wrote. 

“There is nothing inherent to the exercise of these powers that threatens the ability of lawyers to fulfil their duties as independent advocates, nor does it threaten the ability of the regulator to act independently in regulating lawyers.”

The Trial Lawyers Association said it will likely appeal the decision, as it believes the legislation unreasonably intrudes upon their independence, while creating “dangerous avenues” for government to pressure lawyers and interfere with their duties to clients. 

Premier David Eby, himself a lawyer, said Wednesday that he’s pleased with the decision and defended the purpose of the legislation, saying it could lead to more affordable legal services delivered by “a variety of sources.” 

“This legislation is about increasing public confidence in the regulation and oversight of lawyers in the province,” he said. 

“I think there’s a reasonable prospect we’ll see an appeal, but at this point, certainly glad to know that that legislation will be in place to ensure British Columbians are protected when they engage a lawyer in our province.” 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2026.

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