Search
This area does not yet contain any content.
Justinian News

Balkan intrigues ... Old coppers stagger into the Croatian Six inquiry ... 15-year jail terms in 1980 for alleged terrorism ... Miscarriage of justice under review ... Verballing ... Loading-up ... Old fashioned detective "work" ... Evidence so far ... Hamish McDonald reports ... Read more >> 

Politics Media Law Society


Cohn Man ... The ghost of Roy Cohn and the remaking of politics … Cancelling The Apprentice … Anticipatory obedience … NACC Major General’s partially apprehended … Stickler for rectitude … Meretricious sexual services ... Read on ... 

This area does not yet contain any content.
Free Newsletter
Justinian Columnists

Blue sky litigation ... Another costly Lehrmann decision ... One more spin on the never-never ... Arguable appeal discovered in the bowels of the Gazette of Law & Journalism ... Odious litigants ... Could Lee J have got it wrong on the meaning of rape? ... Calpurnia reports from the Defamatorium ... Read more >> 

Blow the whistle

 

News snips ...


Qld Bar 'n Grill announces eight new KCs for 2024 ... Details >>

Justinian's Bloggers

London Calling ... Vitamin D deficiency ... Anti-vax solicitor birched for "friendly warning" to schools ... Budget measures hit private school fee payers and their personal jets ... Robing room "humour" ... Equality and sensitivity training missing in action ... Floyd Alexander-Hunt reports from Blighty ... Read more >> 

"Calls to produce scalps publicly and promptly are unhelpful."  

Major Gen. Paul Brereton, Commissioner of the National Corruption Concealment Commission, defending his secretive and snail paced agenda ... Speaking in Adelaide at a Public Sector Governance Forum ... November 15, 2024  ... Read more flatulence ... 


Justinian Featurettes

Vale Percy Allan AM ... Obit for friend and fellow-traveller ... Prolific writer on economics and politics ... Public finance guru ... Technocrat with humanity and broad interests ... Theatre ... Animals ... Art ... Read more ... 


Justinian's archive

A triumph for Victorian morality ... Ashton v Pratt ... In the sack with Dick Pratt ... Meretricious sexual services renders contract void on public policy grounds ... Justice Paul Brereton applies curious moral standard ... A whiff of hypocrisy ... Doubtful finding ... Artemus Jones reporting ... From Justinian's Archive, January 24, 2012 ... Who knew the NACC commissioner had strong views on the sanctity of marriage ... Read more ... 


 

 

« Killing the goose | Main | The short goodbye »
Monday
Jan242011

The dash to mediocrity

Law Council fails to justify ethically flawed solicitors' conduct rules ... Law Society of New South Wales covers the problem in waffle ... Theodora on the barricades about conflicts and client "consent"

The Law Council of Australia didn't try very hard to come up with an imaginative response to my editor's story about the flawed solicitors' conduct rules.

The story was here in Justinian and here in The Sydney Morning Herald

The two most objectionable rules singled out for criticism both relate to watering down the information to be given clients about a solicitor's potential conflicts.

See the new conduct rules HERE.

Rule 11 will allow solicitors to rely on "implied consent" when concurrently acting for two clients whose interests are "adverse".

For instance, if the information about the conflict is buried in a detailed retainer agreement that would be sufficient to establish "consent".

Rule 12 permits solicitors to accept referral fees if they have "informed consent". The problem is they don't have to inform the client how much they are trousering.

These two rules alone represent a lowering of fiduciary standards, dressed up as "consumer protection".

While the rules seek to protect solicitors from ethical complaints, it opens lawyers to civil actions for breach of duty.

The editor's outpouring included a swipe at the Chief Justices, who should have put a stop to this proposed lax regime, which we understand was supported and driven by the LCA's Large Law Firm Group.

The lame rebuttal from the new president of the LCA, Alex Ward, majestically avoided addressing the central allegations.

Instead, he fearlessly denied something than had not been asserted.

"It is incorrect to assert or imply that the Chief Justices of this country had any part to play in the creation or approval of, the Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules.

To suggest otherwise is mischievous and unhelpful in any rational debate on the appropriateness or otherwise of the content of the rules...

The Law Council welcomes informed comment on the contents of these rules, but to imply that the Law Council process was unduly influenced by one of its constituencies, or anyone else, is wrong."

There was no attempt to justify the vice at the heart of the issue.

As they stand, these rules, with their half-baked disclosure requirements, represent a dash to mediocrity.

The Law Society of New South Wales also skirted the issue. Asked about this dilution of fiduciary responsibility back came an artfully crafted PR response:

"The Law Society of New South Wales supports uniform national conduct rules for solicitors and has been closely engaged in the development process of the Australian Solicitors Conduct Rules. This has included making suggestions about the content and drafting of a number of the proposed rules... The Law Society always welcomes submissions on proposed new rules in response to this [consultation] process. The Law Society Council will consider the Australian Solicitors Conduct Rules in their final form, and their adoption in NSW, in the coming months."

It is understood that Western Australia and South Australia are not supportive of the rules as they stand.

We may end-up with a national profession without unified rules.

Let's hope that the AGs and the CJs wise up to what's happening and do something...

Reader Comments

There are no comments for this journal entry. To create a new comment, use the form below.
Member Account Required
You must have a member account on this website in order to post comments. Log in to your account to enable posting.