From bullied to besties: can BC notaries survive sitting at the benchers' table?

This is an exploratory study of the evolution of a monopoly shared between two self-regulated but otherwise unequal professions, the lawyers and notaries in British Columbia, Canada from 1981 to 2013 inclusive. The analysis of documents and interviews with key informants identify significant events during the study period and explore the relationships among lawyers, notaries, the provincial government and the courts. The study investigates the maintenance, expansion, and justification of monopolies, and how the delivery of legal services has been affected by competition, education, turf wars and the metamorphosis of the law society into a public interest regulator. The results are framed against the literature on professionalization and the relationships between professions and between the state and the professions. The study adds credibility to existing theories about inter-professional machinations, and demonstrates the precariousness of a non-exclusive, independent, subordinate position in the professions.