This week we publicly launched our professional ethics programme – Changing Ethical Landscapes web hub.

Solicitors are officers of the court. As a profession, we are proud to be defined by the highest ethical and professional standards, underpinned by a robust regulatory framework.

Solicitors, however, are facing a changing world. New technologies, ways of working and methods of practice raise ethical questions all of which must be considered carefully.

We are facing a constantly evolving environment as public attitudes shift due to world events, political and social movements. Inevitably, this has an impact on solicitors as well as on their clients and businesses.

The Law Society has a role to play in equipping members to resolve ethical dilemmas and navigate a sometimes controversial, increasingly complex and at times contested landscape.

This is where our three-year professional ethics programme comes in.

How we got here

We publicly announced our programme this week to mark the launch of the web hub.

We are entering our second year of the three-year project. Over the last year, we’ve been scoping the key ethical issues facing the profession. We’ve engaged with our members to find out what support they need and what more we can do to help them.

We held four roundtables with members and experts from different size firms and the in-house community.

They highlighted they would like to see more support on issues including:

  • Client selection and onboarding
  • Changing firm and workplace culture
  • Environmental, social and governance concerns
  • Corporate structures and the independence of in-house counsel

What’s next

Improving professional ethics isn’t just about creating additional training or increasing regulation.

We must also cultivate the personal virtues and behaviours across the profession that create an environment which supports, rather than prevents or suppresses, ethical behaviour.

As a leader, I understand the importance of sharing mistakes and being open about them, as well as having a healthy and supportive workplace culture based on trust and principled leadership.

A career as a solicitor can be long and fruitful – but it can also, at times, be highly pressurised and create expectations that we are infallible, which of course, is not the case. Growth and improving ethical practice takes place when we are allowed to admit and learn from mistakes.

Training and education are foundational building blocks. But to apply ethical competence obtained through them, we need the informal learning that happens at work when supported by a healthy culture.

Simply focusing on education and training can sometimes inadvertently narrow in on compliance with regulations and create a tickbox mentality.

In everyday practice, pressures from court, employers and clients can compete and give rise to tensions and ethical conundrums, where simply looking at the code of conduct can’t always provide an easy answer.

Senior leaders and supervisors play an important role in providing opportunities to reflect on professional ethics.

We all have a responsibility to foster a psychologically safe environment to explore and have an open debate.

I am proud to have spearheaded this programme and launch it with a new hub on our website. The hub brings together resources to help members on issues that impact on professional ethics and will be the home for additional materials on concerns emerging in the future.

I look forward to this programme providing challenge and support through a range of resources including guidance, best practice, events and a wider learning and development offer.

As I near the end of my term, I hope this will serve as my legacy to bring the profession to the forefront of this challenging conversation.

Lubna Shuja, President of the Law Society of England and Wales

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