Practice Management, Supervision and Ethical Decision-Making
Managing a practice ethically
Practice management is an ethical duty, not merely an administrative one. A well-run practice has systems for file management, conflict checking, trust accounting, supervision of juniors, and client communication. Failures in these systems are a common source of complaints and disciplinary findings.
Supervision
Principals must supervise junior solicitors and support staff. A supervisor must ensure that work is within the junior's competence, that advice is reviewed before it goes to the client, and that ethical issues are escalated. A junior who is instructed to act unethically must refuse and escalate; following an instruction from a supervisor is not a defence to a disciplinary charge.
Ethical decision-making
A structured approach helps: identify the issue; identify the stakeholders and duties; consult the applicable rules and guidance; consider the reasonable-observer perspective; consider alternatives; act and document. Where the answer is unclear, seek advice from the regulator or a senior colleague, and document the reasoning.
Traps
- The "I was told to" trap: instructions from a supervisor do not excuse unethical conduct.
- The "system failure" trap: a systemic error does not excuse individual responsibility, but it may be relevant to sanction.
- The "documentation" trap: undocumented decisions are harder to defend; document ethical reasoning.
- The "junior" trap: juniors must escalate, not simply comply.
Rule of thumb
If you cannot write down the ethical reason for a decision in a way that would satisfy a reasonable observer, do not make it. Consult, document, and escalate.