Close to the start of my presidential year I spent a weekend in Prague with colleagues to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the re-establishment of the independence of the Czech legal profession.

Out of a small Czech bar of only 8,804 members, more than 500 attended a conference dedicated to ethical issues within the legal profession and spent a day passionately debating the subject.

I don’t know if this was because most of the people at the conference could remember a time when the rule of law and democracy were absent from their lives, but I do remember thinking that I doubted a conference dedicated to ethics would attract a similar proportion of solicitors in England and Wales (and regretting that fact).

From the very start of my career, when my principal drummed into me the importance of legal ethics, I have carried that belief with me.

Before my career in the law, I thought of myself as a person of integrity, but I had no idea about how those ethical standards would be tested in practice.

I vividly recall the moment when, as a young lawyer, a major commercial client of the firm attempted to put pressure on me to do something slightly the wrong side of the line (far more dangerous than an obvious breach).

The training I had received enabled me to be alert to the situation and also gave me the confidence to know that I would receive complete support from the firm when I alerted others to the problem.

However, my fear is that my principal’s view is one that has slowly diverged from the profession’s view.

I worry that the sort of understanding that my principal instilled in me about the application of legal ethics might have got lost over the years; particularly among firms where trainees are trained in different departments by rotation, and therefore for practical reasons are more removed from their principals than I was.

This means they miss out on vital opportunities for lessons in legal ethics to be passed on from those who are experienced in the practice of law to those who are still learning.

This is troubling, considering that the Legal Services Act began a move away from traditional, rules-based codes towards an outcomes-focused approach.

I agree with Lord Hunt of Wirral when he says that the implementation of outcomes-focused regulation will require ‘a greater degree of judgement on the part of individuals concerned’.

The introduction of alternative business structures will allow non-lawyer owners to invest in legal practices for the first time. These business owners may not have an appreciation or understanding of the principles and ethical code of solicitors.

The Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP) will play a key role in ensuring that all owners and employees in a legal practice comply with the code of conduct and the ethics of professional practice.

The COLP will need to be an individual of considerable strength and probity to withstand the pressures that they may be subjected to in this role.

If solicitors are to be capable of maintaining their standing in this new world, they will need to have a sense of professionalism and ethical behaviour beyond a mere ability to understand and comply with regulation, wherever it emanates from.

Therefore I believe that now is the time for the profession to revive and give serious weight to debates and training around legal ethics.

I believe a renewal of this debate can only strengthen our profession; providing real and practical benefits, enhancing our professional credibility and providing a first step to exercising the highest possible standards, which are essential for the future success of the legal profession.

An obvious and profound professional commitment to a broad legal ethical framework that is accepted and understood by the public, will not only guide us in our work, as our practical training does, but will help the profession stand out in what is likely to be an increasingly competitive market over the coming years.

Quite rightly our Solicitors Code of Conduct talks about the independence and integrity of solicitors, the proper administration of justice, and the importance of individuals not acting in any way that diminishes trust in the profession.

The code goes a significant way towards helping to shape and define the profession. I would go as far as to say that it provides a moral compass and framework for the profession, which leaves little excuse for those who chose to wilfully ignore it.

However, in order to truly thrive in the legal services market I think that the profession will have to go above and beyond basic standards of integrity that are set out in the code and strive to inspire the sort of confidence and trust in the profession that we know that we deserve.

The first step here will be acknowledging the important role that legal ethics can play.

Embedding ethics more firmly into legal education and the training system will significantly strengthen the standing of solicitors domestically and internationally, and enhance the public’s confidence in the profession.

Professional ethics are by no means unique to lawyers, but they do provide a central part of the professional packages that solicitors can offer to their clients and to society as a whole.

Political, philosophical and more pragmatic arguments around ethics have been around for thousands of years, particularly when those debates have concerned issues of justice.

I do hope however, that the profession can agree that, for us, a consensus on legal ethics means an agreement around values and commitments that are rooted in our duties to the court, the rule of law and our clients’ interests.

It also means acting on a daily basis to see them enacted through our work. Without this philosophical and practical commitment we are doing ourselves and our clients a disservice.

Linda Lee is president of the Law Society