LSB Strengthens Legal Ethics Standards

Legal services regulators must do more to strengthen lawyers’ ethical standards, the Legal Services Board (LSB) has said, setting out new expectations designed to reinforce lawyers’ role in upholding the rule of law.

Regulators will need to put “professional ethical duties” at the heart of how lawyers are expected to behave. The LSB has confirmed that where duties conflict, lawyers must prioritise their duties to the court and the rule of law over their duty to their client. This follows the oversight regulator’s consultation last year, in which stakeholders called for greater certainty about the hierarchy of these duties.

The LSB has identified three key areas where regulators must act:

• more consistent education and training in ethics

• clearer and more practical regulatory guidance

• stronger workplace support for lawyers in upholding standards.
  Together, these changes aim to ensure lawyers are better equipped to recognise and act on their ethical duties in complex, real-world situations.

The LSB’s work responds to evidence about situations in which ethical duties can come under pressure. These include concerns about the misuse of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) to silence victims, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) used to deter scrutiny and accountability, and the risk of lawyers facilitating economic crime while operating in positions of trust and responsibility.

Richard Orpin, Chief Executive of the LSB, said:

“These important steps to strengthen legal ethics will help to reinforce public trust, support the rule of law, and ensure legal services better serve the public interest and the wider economy.

“The strong engagement throughout this programme of work – including our ethics consultation last year – has been invaluable. We are grateful for the contributions from across and beyond the sector, and we now look forward to working closely with regulators to embed these changes and support the profession in meeting the highest ethical standards, all for the benefit of consumers and the public.”

The LSB has published:

• its final statement of policy on “Upholding professional ethical duties” and a one-page summary of the policy

• its response to the feedback received in its ethics consultation and a blog summarising the changes made following the consultation
  The LSB will now work with regulators as they develop plans to meet the new expectations in the specific contexts of their regulated communities. Regulators will have up to six months to develop those plans.

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