Ethics

As a legal practitioner you will find yourself in an ethical dilemma at various times in your career - it is a part of practice. Ethical dilemmas can arise when your duties to the law, court, colleagues and your clients diverge and it is sometimes difficult to uphold these competing obligations.

The Professional Conduct and Practice Rules 2005 (pdf) assist with explaining those obligations.

However, lawyer's ethics is more than a set of principles for you to follow, it is also about how conduct yourself whilst practising law. As such, you may owe duties tothird parties and the wider community.

Duty to the Law:

Being a legal practitioner means you are a part of the administration of the legal system. You may not agree with some parts of the system and you are entitled to lobby for its reform, but you must follow existing laws.

Duty to the Court:

As an officer of the Court you must act with honesty, integrity and candour. Any duties owed and directions made by the court must be fulfilled, including undertakings.

Duty to Colleagues:

Your professional relationships are important. We do this by showing courtesy to colleagues, even in circumstances where you feel it is undeserving.

Duty to Clients:

Your duty to your client requires you to act with due skill and care, reasonable promptness and courtesy, whilst maintaining your client’s confidences and avoiding conflicts of interest.

The LIV’s Ethics Department aims to reduce the occurrence of ethical dilemmas and to provide you with support and resources. This is done through:

• Ethics Seminars
• Confidential Ethics Advice Line
• Ethics Committee 
• The Ethics Liaison Group 
• Publications and Guidelines
• Website

The Ethics Department is availabe to help. All enquiries are confidential. Call or send an email to:

Contact:

Ethics Department
Ph: (03) 9607 9336
Fax: (03) 9607 9446
Email: ethics@liv.asn.au


Disclaimer
The information on this page is not intended to be legal advice. It is general information provided by the Ethics Department of the Law Institute of Victoria Ltd for the practical assistance of LIV members. If you wish to rely on this information, you should always obtain independent legal advice.