In Blake v.
Blake, 2019 ONSC 4062, Regional Senior Justice Daley provided a
detailed overview of a lawyer's professional duties to keep up
to date on case law and to bring relevant authorities to the
court's attention.
Disclosure of Authorities
Counsel have a positive duty to make full disclosure of all
binding authorities relevant to a case, whether or not the
authorities support or undermine the position being urged upon the
court.
At the same time, lawyers are not required to present a
disinterested account of the law. If possible, they should
distinguish those authorities which do not support their
clients' position.
Conducting Research
Lawyers have a duty to conduct reasonable research on points of
law that are known in advance to be contentious. The Rules of
Professional Conduct require lawyers to keep abreast of
developments in all areas of law in which the lawyer practices.
