Ethics of lawyer

• A solicitor's commitment to behaving ethically is at the heart of what it means to be a solicitor. The Law Society supports solicitors in recognising and handling difficult professional situations and making choices which can be substantiated by reference to the SRA Code of Conduct.

  • Ethics involves making a commitment to acting with integrity and honesty in accordance with widely recognised moral principles.

  • Ethics will guide a professional towards an appropriate way to behave in relation to moral dilemmas that arise in practice.

  • Ethics is based on the principles of serving the interests of consumers of legal services and of acting in the interests of the administration of justice, in which, in the event of a conflict, acting in the interests of the administration of justice prevails.

  SRA Code of Conduct: the principles
  Ethical scenarios
  1. Conflicts of interest
  

  • Complete the scenario in our Professional Development Centre

  2. Confidentiality
  

  • Complete the scenario in our Professional Development Centre

  3. Speaking up as a junior lawyer
  

  • Complete the scenario in our Professional Development Centre

  4. Client pressure
  

  • Complete the scenario in our Professional Development Centre

  5. Change of plea in a criminal trial
  

  Making a commitment to acting ethically is intrinsically linked with meeting the standards and requirements set out in the SRA Code of Conduct. These standards stem from the 10 mandatory principles. The principles apply to all solicitors and underpin all aspects of practice. [Read more about the principles]

  For advice on ethical issues, call the SRA professional ethics helpline on 0370 606 2577.
• The Law Society is creating a suite of interactive ethical scenarios featuring Ethel, our ethical guru, who guides users though the ethical issues associated with dilemmas solicitors might face in practice.

  After completing the scenarios, please tell us what you think by filling in the short feedback survey.

  A solicitor finds herself in a position of potential conflict. Can she represent two clients in the same matter?

  There are lessons to be learned about identifying conflicts at an early stage, ensuring good communications with clients and taking steps to alleviate problems further down the line.

  A solicitor must consider his duties of confidentiality and disclosure in a complicated set of circumstances.

  A junior solicitor finds herself in a difficult situation when she discovers potential misconduct by her training principal and supervisor. What exactly should she do next, bearing in mind that he is responsible for signing off her training contract?

  A solicitor is put under pressure by a large commercial client to change the firm’s usual terms of engagement. The situation becomes more complicated when the solicitor represents the client in a Competition and Markets Authority investigation for price fixing.

  In a criminal trial a solicitor is representing a client on two burglary charges, both of which involve preying on elderly people. The scenario explores the ethical dilemma caused by the client wishing to change his guilty plea. As with all of the scenarios, a range of factors causes the situation to become increasingly complicated.