Gender Equality
“A Cold-Blooded Effort to Bolster up the
Legal Profession”: The Battle Between
Lawyers and Notaries in
British Columbia, 1871–1930
JOAN BROCKMAN*
Notaries in British Columbia have managed to retain authority to offer to the public legal services that, in other Canadian jurisdictions (except for Quebec), have been arrogated to the exclusive domain of lawyers. A conceptual framework of professionalization and inter-professional rivalry developed by Anne Witz can be applied to the battles that took place between lawyers and notaries in British Columbia from 1871 to 1930. By the late 1920s, it appeared as though lawyers were winning the battle, when they moved the dispute from the Legislative Assembly to the courts.
Les notaires de la Colombie-Britannique ont réussi à conserver l’autorité sur l’offre de services juridiques que les avocats se sont arrogés ailleurs au Canada (sauf au
Québec). Un cadre conceptuel de professionnalisation et de rivalité inter-professionnelle mis au point par Anne Witz peut être appliqué aux batailles que se sont livrées les avocats et les notaires de la Colombie-Britannique de 1871 à 1930. À la fin des années 20, les avocats semblaient remporter la bataille lorsqu’ils transportèrent le conflit de l’assemblée législative aux tribunaux.
DESPITE THEIR LOW numbers,1 notaries in British Columbia have managed to maintain the right to provide services which have, in many other
1
* Joan Brockman is professor in the School of Criminology at Simon Fraser University. An early version of this paper was presented at the Canadian Law and Society meetings in Calgary, June 13,
1994. The assistance of staff at the British Columbia Archives and Records Service and of Bernice
Chong at the Legal Archives of British Columbia is gratefully acknowledged. The author is also grateful to Shelly Devon (Cook), Rita Karajaoja, Valeria Rubinyi, Kerry O’Flannagan, and Andrea
Wareham for their research assistance, Dr. Bernard Hoeter for sharing
Legal Profession”: The Battle Between
Lawyers and Notaries in
British Columbia, 1871–1930
JOAN BROCKMAN*
Notaries in British Columbia have managed to retain authority to offer to the public legal services that, in other Canadian jurisdictions (except for Quebec), have been arrogated to the exclusive domain of lawyers. A conceptual framework of professionalization and inter-professional rivalry developed by Anne Witz can be applied to the battles that took place between lawyers and notaries in British Columbia from 1871 to 1930. By the late 1920s, it appeared as though lawyers were winning the battle, when they moved the dispute from the Legislative Assembly to the courts.
Les notaires de la Colombie-Britannique ont réussi à conserver l’autorité sur l’offre de services juridiques que les avocats se sont arrogés ailleurs au Canada (sauf au
Québec). Un cadre conceptuel de professionnalisation et de rivalité inter-professionnelle mis au point par Anne Witz peut être appliqué aux batailles que se sont livrées les avocats et les notaires de la Colombie-Britannique de 1871 à 1930. À la fin des années 20, les avocats semblaient remporter la bataille lorsqu’ils transportèrent le conflit de l’assemblée législative aux tribunaux.
DESPITE THEIR LOW numbers,1 notaries in British Columbia have managed to maintain the right to provide services which have, in many other
1
* Joan Brockman is professor in the School of Criminology at Simon Fraser University. An early version of this paper was presented at the Canadian Law and Society meetings in Calgary, June 13,
1994. The assistance of staff at the British Columbia Archives and Records Service and of Bernice
Chong at the Legal Archives of British Columbia is gratefully acknowledged. The author is also grateful to Shelly Devon (Cook), Rita Karajaoja, Valeria Rubinyi, Kerry O’Flannagan, and Andrea
Wareham for their research assistance, Dr. Bernard Hoeter for sharing