Can a litigant’s lawyer appear as a witness at trial?

It is extremely undesirable for a litigant’s lawyer to appear as a witness. In Urquhart v. Allen Estate, [1999] O.J. No. 4816 (S.C.J.) Justice Gillese states as follows: “When counsel appears as a witness on a contentious matter, it causes two problems. First, it may result in a conflict of interest between counsel and his client. That conflict may be waived by the client, as indeed, was done in this case. The second problem relates to the administration of justice. The dual roles serve to create a conflict between counsel’s obligations of objectivity and detachment, which are owed to the court, and his obligations to his client to present evidence in as favourable a light as possible. This is a conflict that cannot be waived by the client as the conflict is between counsel and the court/justice system” (see Urquhart at paras. 27 and 28 and see Karas v. Ontario, 2011 ONSC 5181 (CanLII), [2011] O.J. No. 3932 (Master) at para. 27).