CALGARY — Following a marathon disciplinary process that cleared Calgary lawyer and Alberta independence advocate Jeff Rath of several citations related to his COVID-era messages, the Law Society of Alberta announced this week that Rath will retain his ability to practise law, on the sole condition that he successfully complete a remedial professional-development module titled Words Have Consequences: An Introduction.

The continuing-education requirement stems from the one citation Rath did not beat, in which he conceded that his language had been "discourteous, offensive or otherwise inconsistent with the proper tone of professional communication from a lawyer" — a standard the Law Society clarified is met by roughly anything you would not say to a judge while the judge was holding your licence.

"We are not trying to change Mr. Rath's politics," a Law Society spokesperson explained. "He is entirely free to believe Alberta should secede from Canada, declare itself a sovereign jurisdiction, and write its own laws. We simply ask that, until that glorious day arrives, he address the laws we currently have without the word choices of a man live-tweeting his own carotid artery."

The four-hour seminar, sources confirm, opens with a foundational lesson establishing that a professional code of conduct applies even to lawyers who have privately concluded the institution administering it has no legitimate authority. Module Two covers the difference between an argument and a grievance. Module Three is reportedly just the phrase "with respect" repeated until it stops sounding sarcastic, which instructors concede may run long.

Legal-education experts note the irony of disciplining a sovereignty advocate by ordering him to attend a class. "You're compelling a man who rejects the jurisdiction to sit an exam set by the jurisdiction," said one professor. "Either he refuses on principle and loses his licence, or he shows up, takes notes, and passes — at which point he has been, in the most literal sense, governed. It's the most effective pro-Confederation argument the province has produced in a decade."

Rath has not commented publicly on the requirement. The Law Society confirmed that completion certificates will be issued in English, French, and, at the registrant's request, a sealed envelope marked "To Whom It No Longer Concerns."