Regulators will begin a major piece of work next year on how to ensure lawyers demonstrate and maintain professional ethics. Alan Kershaw, the chair of the Legal Services Board, said recent high-profile cases had showed this was an area that ‘clearly needs significant attention if the profession is to uphold public confidence’.
Kershaw, writing in his summary of the latest board meeting, revealed the LSB will consult next year on proposals to support and empower ethical decision-making across the sector.
He added: ’Our longer-term ambition is for improved awareness among all lawyers and their lay colleagues of the ethical responsibilities of the legal profession, and for strong professional and regulatory support for the maintenance of those responsibilities, sometimes in the face of unreasonable pressure. This will be a major undertaking, requiring collective action.’
Kershaw did not refer to specific cases, but the Axiom Ince collapse and Post Office scandal have both been held up in the last year as examples of professional ethics not being upheld.
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At an LSB conference earlier this year, Post Office expert Professor Richard Moorhead said that apathy and ignorance were the ‘root cause’ of the failure to prevent the wrongful prosecution of so many people.
‘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.’
Kershaw said the LSB will also focus in the next year on how developments in the legal market may be putting consumers at risk. He cited the failure of large law firms, growth in third-party litigation funding and group claims as particular areas of concerns.
‘These issues are complex, cutting across multiple sectors and regulatory regimes, said Kershaw. ‘We are working closely with legal and financial services regulators to explore what coordinated action may be necessary to deliver effective policy solutions.’
The chair also acknowledged the scale of the LSB’s proposed 14% budget increase, taking its annual spending beyond £6m and representing £3.84 for every regulated lawyer. This figure appears to have increased from the proposed increase set out in board papers last week.
‘The budget reflects the resources we need to meet the scale of the challenges facing the legal sector. It remains vital that we are able to make sure that regulation remains focussed squarely on the public interest,’ he said.
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