Lawyers’ lack of interest in ethics may be fuelling an increase in rogue behaviour in the profession, an academic expert on the legal profession has suggested. Professor Richard Moorhead told a conference of lawyers yesterday that ‘apathy’ and ‘ignorance’ were a ‘root cause’ of unethical behaviours that have manifested in issues such as the Post Office scandal.
In a wide-ranging discussion on lawyer ethics as part of the Legal Services Board conference In London, Moorhead said some practitioners had also taken advantage of uncertainty about what it means to act ethically and applied a narrow approach to what was right.
The Post Office scandal had revealed weaknesses in professional rules and highlighted occasions where lawyers were either ignorant about their responsibilities or ‘too clever by half’.
‘Although the consequences [in the Post Office case] are extreme, the behaviour is not that unusual,’ said Moorhead.
‘Putting clients’ interests first before the interests of justice, before integrity, independence and – I am sorry to say – honesty, using the law and confidentiality in particular as a tool to take advantage of people in their thousands.’
Moorhead said the in-house community especially was ‘crying out’ for more guidance on how to be compliant and stay independent in the face of pressure from employers.
Invited to join the discussion, Solicitors Regulation Authority chief executive Paul Philip suggested that guidance may be coming next week but suggested there may be a wider problem that that the profession needs to address.
‘There is seeming to be a culture in law firms that allows this to happen,’ he said. ‘There is far too much of lawyers seeing themselves as a hired gun and having little respect for the rule of law.’
Charlie Holt, European lead at the Global Legal Climate Defense, said aggressive litigation in the form of SLAPPs was a ‘systemic issue’ and symptomatic of a failure to attach appropriate value to obligations around the rule of law.
Holt said: ‘We see the same law firms and lawyers popping up again time and time again. Having worked in Europe there is nothing comparable to the UK in that respect. There is in the US. We see these belligerent lawyers appearing again and again.’
Tetyana Nesterchuk, of Fountain Court Chambers, told the conference: ‘You could be advising the client within the confines of the law, but there comes a point where you have to think, does it pass the smell test?
‘That’s what I always have to ask myself, is this something that I’m comfortable doing? And the moment you get uncomfortable, you have to ask yourself why.’
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