NCJ Number
58310
Journal
University of Toronto Law Journal Volume: 21 Issue: 4 Dated: (1971) Pages: 498-528
Date Published
1971
Length
31 pages
Annotation
RESULTS OF AN EXPLORATORY SURVEY CONDUCTED IN THE METROPOLITAN TORONTO AREA TO DETERMINE THE DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS OF CANADIAN LAWYERS ARE PRESENTED.
Abstract
BECAUSE RELATIVELY SCARCE DATA REGARDING LAWYERS AND THE LEGAL PROFESSION IN CANADA EXIST, THE STUDY WAS UNDERTAKEN TO DEVELOP A DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF THE LEGAL COMMUNITY. FROM A LIST OF 125 NAMES SELECTED AT RANDOM FROM THE TORONTO LEGAL DIRECTORY, 100 TELEPHONE INTERVIEWS WERE CONDUCTED. ALTHOUGH THE SAMPLE WAS TOO SMALL TO ACCURATELY IDENTIFY CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE POPULATION OF LAWYERS IN TORONTO, FINDINGS SHOW THAT ONLY SIX PERCENT OF THE SAMPLE POPULATION ARE WOMEN, AND THE MAJORITY OF LAWYERS ARE BETWEEN THE AGES OF 25 AND 45. MOST ARE BORN IN CANADA AND ARE OF ANGLO CANADIAN AND PROTESTANT BACKGROUND; 11 JEWISH LAWYERS CONSTITUTE 25 PERCENT OF THE SAMPLE. SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT OF THE RESPONDENTS' FATHERS HAD PASSED BEYOND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, AS COMPARED WITH 56 PERCENT OF THE NATIONAL POPULATION. IN COMPARING OCCUPATIONS OF RESPONDENTS' FATHERS WITH THE GENERAL POPULATION, IT APPEARS THAT LAWYERS COME FROM PARTICULARLY ADVANTAGED HOME SITUATIONS. THE AVERAGE LAWYER RECEIVED A BACHELOR OF ARTS DEGREE FROM AN ONTARIO UNIVERSITY AND THEN ATTENDED OSGOODE HALL LAW SCHOOL. MOREOVER, 72 PERCENT OF THE RESPONDENTS CONCEIVE OF THEMSELVES AS SPECIALISTS, WITH CORPORATE, COMMERCIAL, AND TAX LAW AS THE AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION BY 32.9 PERCENT. THE SOLO PRACTITIONER IS MOST OFTEN OF EUROPEAN BACKGROUND, WITH A LOWER THAN AVERAGE LAW SCHOOL