THE ADVOCATES’ SOCIETY
SCOTT MAIDMENT
Reflections on a
Declaration of Friendship Scott Maidment was Called to the Bar of Newfoundland in 1989 and the Bar of Ontario in 1992. He studied law at Queen’s University and the London School of Economics. Scott is a partner with the Canadian law firm of McMillan LLP. He was elected President of The Advocates’ Society and Chair of its Board of Directors in 2019.
At the time of writing, Saturday 7 March 2020 is only a few weeks past and yet it seems to me now like a day from a bygone era. That Saturday found me at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park, far from my home in Toronto, Canada. As President of The Advocates’ Society, I had been invited to join members of the Middle Temple for a weekend of training pupils in advocacy. Readers will remember that those were the days when new friends were met with a handshake, when there was shared laughter over cocktails, and when dinner conversation ranged over diverse subjects unconnected to the trials of a life in lockdown. For those who may not know, The Advocates’ Society are a volunteer organisation of some 6,000 advocates practising throughout Canada. Founded in Toronto nearly 60 years ago by a small group of leading advocates, The Advocates’ Society today enjoys a place of prominence within the Canadian legal firmament. Among other things, we pride ourselves on being the premiere organisation in Canada for the training and development of advocates as well as the leading voice for advocates within the Canadian justice system. Our mission includes thought leadership in advocacy practice, the cultivation of civility and collegiality at the Bar, enhancing access to justice, improving the administration of justice and supporting the rule of law. At Cumberland Lodge, I was privileged to participate in an intimate signing ceremony with Master Brian Leveson, Treasurer of Middle Temple. Together we signed a Declaration of Friendship made between the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple and The Advocates’ Society. Middle Temple had proposed the Declaration following its Amity Visit to Canada in 2019, during which members of The Advocates’ Society had been pleased to join Middle Templars for a number of stimulating events in Ottawa and Toronto. The proposal of the Declaration had been a touching gesture by Middle Temple, and it had been warmly received. A room full of pupils and instructors looked on as Master
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Scott Maidment and Master David Bean at The Advocates’ Society during the Amity Visit to Canada
Leveson read aloud the Declaration of Friendship and then signed it. As I then took up the pen and put my own hand to the paper, I was struck by a humbling thought: ‘While I had enjoyed many friendships, I had never before “declared” one’. Suddenly I felt as I did when a child at school, and some classmate’s good example taught me more in a moment than I could learn in a full term of classes. In the weeks of relative isolation that have followed that signing at Cumberland Lodge, I have had ample time to reflect on what it means to declare one’s friendship with another, and why it is fitting that Middle Temple and The Advocates’ Society should be friends. I now offer those reflections to the members of both great institutions. In reflecting upon what it means to declare one’s friendship, I believe it must first be said that a declaration of friendship is an expression of trust. We express our trust that our friend not only understands that certain things are meaningful to us, but that our friend also understands the value of those things. In this sense, to declare one’s friendship is to bestow an honour upon our friend that is both glorious and intimate. There is perhaps no firmer basis for friendship than mutual respect for one another’s commitment to a common purpose. Our respective members are advocates and judges, and so we practice the same crafts and share many similar traditions. We are each dedicated to the rule of law and we work to support the proper administration of
2020 Middle Templar
