Ethics in Law: Lawyer Misconduct

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Legal Services Act and Solicitor’s Code of Ethics
Types of Legal Misconduct
Conclusion
Reference List

Introduction

Advancing in a career in law requires not only sufficient knowledge of current legislation and its effective application but also a total commitment to ethical principles. When a lawyer or an attorney works for a client, they start a special relationship that should be built on trust and respect. It is apparent that individuals only resort to legal services when they are confronted with problems that cannot be resolved without the help of a professional.

Thus, one may contend that by doing that, a client puts himself or herself in a somewhat vulnerable position. However, a lawyer’s power and leverage are limited by their ethical duties which both protect the client and compel a legal practitioner to make amendments to his or her practice. In the United Kingdom, the Legal Services Act aims to build an effective system for processing customer complaints, whereas the Solicitor’s Code of Ethics provides a comprehensive framework for lawyers. These two legal documents will be discussed in this essay alongside the most common types of misconduct in the field of law.

Legal Services Act and Solicitor’s Code of Ethics

Legal Service Act was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 2007. In his interview, Ian Miller provides a clear rationale for such a decision (Future Learn n.d.). In the lawyer’s opinion, before the introduction of the LSA, one of the pressing issues in the legal field in the UK was lawyers’ leaning on intuition instead of actual rules. The penchant for trusting an inner feeling for what is right, especially when the notion of “goodness” falls beyond the scope of the legislation, is only natural. However, there was a dire need for standardization of legal practices in regards to the moral foundation of fairness and justice. As of now, LSA contains regulatory objectives and professional principles which encourage independence and integrity in lawyers.

Four years later, in 2011, Solicitors Regulation Authority published the first Handbook of Solicitor’s Code of Ethics which since then, has been amended 21 times. SRA’s Handbook includes principles similar to those of LSA which discuss lawyers’ competencies and moral guidelines. The most extensive section, the Code of Conduct goes into detail about client care, fiduciary duties, ethical management, and public relations. Among other significant sections is Client Protection where one may learn about negligence cases and compensation. The Handbook also describes regulations for persons and bodies established overseas but providing services in England and Wales.

Types of Legal Misconduct

Both the Legal Service Act and Solicitors Regulation Authority Handbook aim at eliminating legal misconduct in the United Kingdom. These documents discuss all possible types of malpractice in the field of law; however, the following section will cover only the most common types. It is crucial to understand that legal malpractice is a complex issue, and many contributing factors should be heeded as failures may be attributed to intentional and unintentional actions, lack of knowledge, and underwhelming personal skills.

Fail to Know and Apply Law

According to the Solicitor Regulation Authority (SRA) Code of Conduct, the first principle that a lawyer is obliged to follow is to uphold the rule of law and administer justice properly. When an individual adopts a legal profession and intends to exercise their duties on behalf of their client, their performance must be characterized by an adequate degree of care and skill (Solicitor Regulation Authority 2018b).

A legal matter cannot be handled without training and preparation. This means that in case a legal practitioner is employed in an unfamiliar matter, he or she should devote an appropriate amount of time to filling in the gaps in knowledge.

A question arises as to what criteria might apply to evaluate a lawyer’s competence. Typically, it is possible to give legal skills a positive assessment based on the following prerequisite:

adequate training, academic success, and a good ratio of satisfying outcomes to legal failures in practice;
demonstration of competence in higher courts and a decent reputation (Solicitor Regulation Authority 2018a).

Having knowledge and maintaining integrity are the two most crucial skills that cannot be applied appropriately in the absence of interconnectivity between them.

Conflict of Interest

Now that integrity as an essential prerequisite for a legal practitioner has been mentioned, it is crucial to discuss the cases where a conflict of interest manifests itself. In her article, Eveleth (2017) emphasizes the point that while it is evident that one of a lawyer’s professional goals is to increase his or her income, their for-profit interests should not interfere with the fulfillment of ethical duties. Undoubtedly, if hired, a lawyer is entitled to a customer’s trust, and he or she proves to be worthy of such trust by having the customer’s interests at heart.

Thus, a lawyer should not represent a client if by doing so, he or she increases the likelihood of an adverse outcome for another client. However, in some cases, conflict of interest might be resolved without a lawyer rejecting the services to one of the clients. For this, a legal practitioner should gain explicit consent from all the clients. Failure to do so would be another type of duty breach.

Fraud

Since the rule of law is built on the principles of equity, justice, and fairness, there is no doubt that a lawyer should be a moral agent and a role model. However, in pursuing their interests, some lawyers go as far as committing fraud. One of the most important legal documents addressing the issues of legal fraud in the United Kingdom is Fraud Act 2006. The Act describes three main types of fraud from the lawyer’s part as well as explains how the client can be deceived when obtaining services.

First, a lawyer may mislead others by knowingly representing false facts, which constitutes “fraud by false representation (Fraud Act 2006).” Second, a legal practitioner may be found guilty of fraud by failing to disclose the information if he or she decides to conceal certain facts that they are obliged to provide. Lastly, in case a lawyer fails to safeguard their client’s interests for their personal gains, due to Fraud Act, it is “fraud by abuse of position (Fraud Act 2006).”

One of the most resonant cases under the Fraud Act 2006 was the disbarment of the campaigning human rights lawyer Phil Shiner. In 2017, Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal found the lawyer guilty of 22 misconduct charges. The charges dealt with dishonesty and failure to maintain professional integrity (Solicitors Regulation Authority 2017). Shiner campaigned against British troops for their treatment of Iraqi detainees, claiming that the British soldiers resorted to torture and other inhumane methods of interrogation. However, the prosecution discovered that the lawyer paid the Iraqi citizens to come forward with accusations.

Planning Errors

Some professional skills are universal and applicable to every field. Among such skills are planning and time management which is paramount to having a positive outcome when working with a client. Failure to meet deadlines might be intentional or unintentional due to a lawyer’s personal attributes such as inattentiveness, but in both cases, a practitioner who poorly managed a case might be accused of negligence. For instance, a lawyer might be well-aware of a looming deadline but for some reason, fail to make necessary appointments and notify individuals in need of this information. Furthermore, sometimes, lawyers might not be even aware of deadlines. A rather complicated situation may arise when no formal deadline is given, but filing documents early might help a client’s case. The inability to heed such nuances might undermine a lawyer’s competence.

Poor Communication

Every professional who works closely with clients is well-aware of the importance of robust and uninhibited communication. According to Aaron (2013), the golden standard for client-lawyer interactions is two-way communication. Ideally, clients should be capable of conveying the problem clearly and in minute detail, providing all the relevant information. To help clients be open about their situation, a lawyer should set an atmosphere of trust and friendliness. Only in this case is it possible to outline the goals of representation effectively.

Conclusion

The legal profession is extraordinarily complex, for it prescribes a practitioner a variety of roles: an advisor, counselor, expert technician, and moral leader. For everyone who embarks on legal practice, it is crucial to realize what the field encompasses. However, as noted by Ian Miller, many professionals are barely aware of the fact that what they do have an ethical basis. As much as following more experienced lawyers’ example in resolving moral dilemmas might be feasible, a comprehensive framework for legal conduct is of greater importance.

In the United Kingdom, it is recommended that a legal practitioner refers to the Legal Service Act and Solicitors Regulation Authority’s Handbook for moral principles and practical advice. The two legal documents cover the types of legal malpractice, defining and discussing incompetence, conflict of interest, negligence, and miscommunication in detail.

Reference List

Aaron, MC 2013, Client science: advice for lawyers on initial client interviews. Web.

Eveleth, L 2017, ‘Professional responsibility and conflict of interest’, Studia Gilsoniana, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 47–61.

Future Learn n.d. Corporate lawyers. Web.

Fraud Act 2006. Web.

Solicitors Regulation Authority 2017. Professor Phil Shiner and the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. Web.

Solicitors Regulation Authority 2018a. SRA handbook. Introduction to authorisation and practising requirements. Web.

Solicitors Regulation Authority 2018b. SRA handbook. SRA principles 2011. Web.

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