Wikipedia notes some history..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King's_Counsel
Ontario
The Government of
Ontario stopped making appointments in 1985. The then-Premier of Ontario,
David Peterson made a statement in the house giving five reasons:
- the designation was originally meant to recognise excellence in the courtroom, but the practice in Ontario was that it could be given to any lawyer, regardless of courtroom experience;
- the use of the designation misled the public, because it was more based on who one knows than what one knows;
- it was unfair to lawyers who for whatever reason have not been designated, leading to questions about their standing in the profession;
- no other profession received government awards of this type;
- the designation had been used in Ontario mainly as a form of political patronage.[81]
In his statement, Premier Peterson stated that the government would stop awarding the designation and would move to revoke existing designations. However, although the Government of Ontario has stopped awarding the designation, it did not formally abolish it. Lawyers appointed as Queen's Counsel prior to 1985 continue to use the Q.C. or c.r.
postnominal letters.
[82] In response to the government's decision, the
Law Society of Upper Canada, the governing body for Ontario lawyers, implemented the Law Society Medal in 1985 to recognise excellence in the profession. Recipients are entitled to use "L.S.M." behind their names.
[83]
Lawyers who are designated Certified Specialist are recognized and experienced in their field of law and have met high standards imposed by the Law Society of Ontario.
[84] This is commonly identified as modern day replacement to the Queen's Counsel (QC) designation.
[85]
Ontario courts, however, continued to recognize the Queen's Counsel designations of Ontario lawyers appearing before it where those lawyers were accorded the honorific by the Federal Government.
[86]
On June 30, 2023, the Attorney General for Ontario announced that the province would start awarding the designation again, in honour of King Charles's coronation.
[87] There had been calls from some members of the Ontario bar for the province to reinstate the King's Counsel designation, on a merit basis, to help Ontario lawyers remain competitive internationally.
[88]