The Bar of Montreal is the bar association

Bar association

A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...

 for lawyer

Lawyer

A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

s in the city of Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. (Fr: Barreau de Montréal). It has it beginnings in 1693 when, as a Royal Province of the French colonial empire

French colonial empires

The French colonial empire was the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 17th century to the late 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second-largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire...

, Canadien

French Canadian

French Canadian or Francophone Canadian, , generally refers to the descendents of French colonists who arrived in New France in the 17th and 18th centuries...

lawyers first tried to obtain official recognition but were refused by Governor General of New France

Governor General of New France

Governor General of New France was the vice-regal post in New France from 1663 until 1760 and was the last French vice-regal post. It was replaced by the British post of Governor of the Province of Quebec following the fall of New France...

 Louis de Buade de Frontenac

Louis de Buade de Frontenac

Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac et de Palluau was a French soldier, courtier, and Governor General of New France from 1672 to 1682 and from 1689 to his death in 1698...

 who upheld the 1678 edict by the Sovereign Council

Sovereign Council of New France

The Sovereign Council of New France was a political body appointed by the King of France and consisting of a Governor General, an Intendant of New France answered to the French Minister of the Marine, And also the Bishop witch helped with laws and land...

 that denied recognition of the legal profession.

For nearly a century, the Canadien lawyers would not be given recognition until after becoming British colonial

British overseas territories

The British Overseas Territories are fourteen territories of the United Kingdom which, although they do not form part of the United Kingdom itself, fall under its jurisdiction. They are remnants of the British Empire that have not acquired independence or have voted to remain British territories...

 subjects. In the new British

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

 Province of Quebec

Province of Quebec (1763-1791)

The Province of Quebec was a colony in North America created by Great Britain after the Seven Years' War. Great Britain acquired Canada by the Treaty of Paris when King Louis XV of France and his advisors chose to keep the territory of Guadeloupe for its valuable sugar crops instead of New France...

, in 1765 Governor

Governor General of Canada

The Governor General of Canada is the federal viceregal representative of the Canadian monarch, Queen Elizabeth II...

  James Murray authorized the creation of the "Community of Lawyers" (Communauté des avocats) which granted commissions to its members that allowed them to practice law in the triple capacity of lawyer, notary

Notary public

A notary public in the common law world is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with estates, deeds, powers-of-attorney, and foreign and international business...

 and land surveyor

Surveying

See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...

. The precursor of the present-day Bar of Montreal, the Community of Lawyers adopted the first-ever code of ethics and conduct.

The Bar of Montreal became an independent corporation in 1849 through the Act to incorporate the Bar of Lower Canada (11-12 Vict. (1849), c.46.).