You may provide legal services in relation to Alberta without becoming a member of the Law Society of Alberta if you:

• are a member of another law society in Canada and are entitled to practise law in that jurisdiction;
• meet the liability insurance requirements set out in the rules (which are generally met if you are insured as required by an NMA or IJP governing body);
• meet the defalcation compensation coverage requirements set out in the Rules (which are generally met if you have the defalcation coverage required by an NMA or IJP governing body);
• do not develop an economic nexus in Alberta; and you
• either apply for and obtain a permit or ensure that you are permitted to provide the requisite legal services without a permit.

‘Entitled to practice law’ means allowed, under all of the legislation and regulation of a home jurisdiction, to engage in the practice of law in the home jurisdiction, without meeting any further requirements (Rule 47).

A visiting lawyer must not open or maintain a trust account in Alberta and must:

(a) promptly remit funds received in trust to the visitor’s lawyer’s trust account in the home jurisdiction, or

(b) ensure that trust funds received are handled:

(i) by a member of the Law Society of Alberta entitled to practise law in Alberta in a trust account controlled by that member of the Society, and

(ii) in accordance with the Legal Profession Act and the Rules of the Law Society of Alberta.

Reference: Rule 72.1(4)

Yes. A visiting lawyer shall not hold out nor allow him or herself to be held out as willing or qualified to practise law in Alberta, except as a visiting lawyer.

Yes. This includes the duty to self-report to the Law Society of Alberta.

(1) If you are charged with:

(a) an indictable offence under any Act of Parliament,

(b) an offence under any Act of Parliament where the offence was prosecutable either as an indictable offence or as a summary conviction offence,

(c) a summary conviction offence under the Income Tax Act, the Criminal Code, the Narcotic Control Act or the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, the Food and Drugs Act of Canada or the Income Tax Act or Securities Act of any province of Canada,

(d) a summary conviction offence under any other law in force in Canada punishable by a fine, if the maximum fine for the offence was then at least $25,000,

(e) an offence committed outside Canada and similar to any of the kinds of offences described in clauses (a) to (d), or

(f) a disciplinary offence in any jurisdiction in which the individual is subject to the regulation of a governing body of the legal profession

this includes an obligation to:

(i) within a reasonable time after the charge is laid give a written notice to the Executive Director containing the particulars of the charge, and

(ii) forthwith notify the Executive Director of the disposition of the charge and any agreement arising out of the charge.

(2) You must also notify the Executive Director of any order requiring that you serve a term of imprisonment, including a conditional or intermittent sentence of imprisonment.

(3) You must also forthwith notify the Executive Director of any suspension, investigation, supervision, undertaking, conditions or similar processes including but not limited to Conduct, Audit, Practice Review or competence related proceedings to which you are subject by direction of a governing body of the legal profession in any jurisdiction.

Reference: Rules 72.1(1), 73(1) and 105.

Yes, and you are encouraged to do so. Please see our Practice Advisors or Equity Ombudsperson pages for further information.

In general, an economic nexus is established by actions inconsistent with a temporary basis for providing legal services. This includes, but is not limited to, doing any of the following in Alberta:

(a) providing legal services beyond the 100 days or 10 matters involving 20 days in 12 months (whichever is applicable (see the following section on Providing Legal Services Without a Permit),

(b) opening an office from which legal services are offered or provided to the public;

(c) becoming resident (defined in rule 71);

(d) opening or operating a trust account, or accepting trust funds, except as permitted under the rules;  and

(e) holding oneself out or allowing oneself to be held out as willing or qualified to practise law in Alberta, except as a visiting lawyer.

Reference: Rule 72.3(2)

In general, opening an office in Alberta from which legal services are offered or provided to the public is an indicator of economic nexus (thereby necessitating a permit or transfer application, Rule 72.3(3)). However, a visiting lawyer who provides legal services in or from an office that:

(a) is the office of one or more resident members of the Law Society of Alberta, and

(b) is affiliated with the lawyer’s law firm in his or her home jurisdiction does not, for that reason alone, establish an economic nexus in Alberta.

If one or more resident members of the Law Society of Alberta work from that office, and the office is affiliated with your firm in your home jurisdiction, providing legal services in or from that office does not, on its own, establish an economic nexus within Alberta (Rule 72.3(3)).

You must not provide legal services without a permit (Rule 72.3(1)).

A visiting lawyer who establishes an economic nexus in Alberta must cease providing legal services forthwith but may apply for call and admission or for a permit (Rule72.3(4)). If you make one of these applications, you may ask the Executive Director to allow you to continue to provide legal services pending consideration of your application (Rule 72.3(5)).

You must, at all times when you are providing legal services in relation to Alberta:

• be a member of an NMA or IJP governing body;
• be entitled to practise law in the jurisdiction of that governing body;
• meet the liability insurance requirements set out in the rules (which are generally met if you are insured as required by an NMA or IJP governing body);
• meet the defalcation compensation coverage requirements set out in the rules (which are generally met if you have the defalcation coverage required by an NMA or IJP governing body);
• have no disciplinary record in any jurisdiction;
• not be subject to conditions or restrictions on your practice or membership in the governing body in any jurisdiction imposed as a result of or in connection with proceedings related to discipline, competency, capacity, admission or reinstatement;
• not be the subject of criminal or disciplinary proceedings in which a matter has been directed to a hearing in any jurisdiction;
• not establish an economic nexus within Alberta;
• handle trust funds in accordance with the requirements set out in the rules;
• provide legal services for no more than 10 legal matters and not more than 20 days in total during any 12-month period if you are entitled to practise law in the jurisdiction of an IJP governing body of which you are a member;
• provide legal services for a maximum of 100 days in any calendar year if you are entitled to practise law in the jurisdiction of an NMA governing body of which you are a member;

If you do not meet all of these requirements, you may only provide legal services in relation to Alberta if you first obtain a permit.

Reference: Rules 71, 72, 72.1, 72.2, 72.4

“Day” means any calendar day or part of a calendar day in which a lawyer provides legal services, unless indicated otherwise by the context (Rule 71).

You begin counting on the first day you begin practising law on an occasional basis in Alberta under these rules. If your home jurisdiction is an NMA jurisdiction, you can begin counting as of January 1 in subsequent years.

Yes, with the permission of the Law Society. You must obtain such an extension before working more than 100 days (Rule 72.5).

Subject to exceptions for federal court or tribunal proceedings (Rule 72.2(6) and employees of the Judge Advocate General (Rule72.2(5)), it is the responsibility of a visiting lawyer providing legal services to:

(a) record and verify the number of days in which he or she provides legal services, and

(b) prove that he or she has complied with the Rules.

Reference: Rule 72.1(3) You may have to adjust your time-keeping system to generate the reports you need to track this information.)

“Disciplinary record” includes any of the following, unless reversed on appeal or review:

• any action taken by a governing body as a result of discipline
• disbarment
• a lawyer’s resignation or otherwise ceasing to be a member of a governing body as a result of disciplinary proceedings
• restrictions or limits on a lawyer’s entitlement to practise, other than those imposed as a result of failure to pay fees to a governing body, insolvency or bankruptcy or other administrative matter
• any interim suspension or restriction or limits on a lawyer’s entitlement to practise imposed pending the outcome of a disciplinary hearing (Rule 71(1))

“Discipline” includes a finding by a governing body of any of the following:

• professional misconduct;
• incompetence;
• conduct unbecoming a lawyer;
• lack of physical or mental capacity to engage in the practise of law;
• conduct deserving of sanction; or
• any other breach of a lawyer’s professional responsibilities.

Reference: Rule 71

“Legal matter” includes any activity or transaction that constitutes the practice of law, and any other activity or transaction ordinarily conducted by members in Alberta in the course of practising law, whether or not persons other than lawyers are legally capable of conducting it (Rule 71).