PPC2 Professional Responsibility cheat sheet

Solicitors in Ireland are regulated under the Solicitors Acts 1954–2015; the Law Society of Ireland is the approved regulator and the Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) oversees the provision of legal services and service complaints under the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015.

Two complaint channels exist: allegations of misconduct go to the Law Society and may be heard by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal; complaints about inadequate service go to the LSRA.

A practising certificate must be renewed annually; practising as a solicitor without a current certificate is a statutory offence and a disciplinary matter.

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal hears allegations of misconduct, makes findings, and reports to the High Court, which imposes the sanction (strike off, suspension, conditions, or fine).

The Solicitors Accounts Regulations require client money to be kept in a designated client account and impose an annual accountant's report; breaches are treated as misconduct.

Core ethical principles applied by the Law Society's Guide to Professional Conduct: independence, integrity, confidentiality, competence, and acting in the client's best interests.

Mandatory continuing professional development applies each year, with specified minimum hours in categories such as regulatory/accounting and client care.

A solicitor practising through a firm or a limited liability partnership remains personally answerable for professional duties; incorporation does not dilute individual accountability.

Route to admission: satisfy the academic requirement (approved degree or the FE1 entrance examinations), complete the professional practice courses, and complete a supervised traineeship.

The traineeship is generally 24 months of full-time in-office training under a solicitor holding a current practising certificate; reduced or alternative arrangements exist for certain entrants.

Admission is effected by enrolment on the roll of solicitors maintained under the Solicitors Acts; enrolment and the holding of a practising certificate are separate statuses.

Applicants are assessed for character and suitability, including criminal convictions, bankruptcy or insolvency, and prior disciplinary findings.

Before a practising certificate issues, the solicitor must show compliance with tax clearance and compulsory professional indemnity insurance requirements.

A solicitor whose name has been removed from the roll must apply for restoration; the application is determined through the statutory disciplinary process and the High Court.

The FE1 examinations cover core subjects (for example contract, tort, property, equity, company, criminal, constitutional and European law) and exemptions may be available for prior study.

Provision of legal services by unqualified persons is restricted; a solicitor may not permit a non-qualified person to do reserved work or to profit-share in a way the regulations prohibit.

The retainer is a contract; its terms should be recorded in writing at the outset, stating scope, fee basis, and who will handle the matter.

A solicitor-client relationship can arise without a formal retainer where the client reasonably believes the solicitor has undertaken the work.

Authority is express, implied or ostensible: implied authority covers routine steps, but settlement or compromise of litigation requires the client's actual authority.

Instructions outside the solicitor's competence, or instructions to act unlawfully or dishonestly, must be declined.

A client may terminate the retainer at any time; the solicitor may withdraw only for good cause, on reasonable notice, and after protecting the client's position.

Where instructions come from a company, the client is the company and not its directors or shareholders individually; separate advice must be offered to individuals where their interests diverge.

A person who pays the fees is not thereby the client; duties are owed to the person for whom the work is undertaken.

Costs information must be given before or at the time of taking instructions, in writing, and updated where the scope or likely cost changes materially.

A solicitor must not act where there is a conflict, or a significant risk of a conflict, between the interests of two clients, or between a client's interest and the solicitor's own interest.

Acting for two clients with a substantially common interest is permissible only where both give informed consent and confidentiality between them is not compromised.

Former-client conflicts bar acting against a former client in the same or a related matter where material confidential information was received, unless the former client gives informed consent.

Conflicts are imputed to the whole firm; a confidentiality screen may assist but does not remove a personal conflict affecting a fee-earner.

Any personal interest of the solicitor in the transaction (gift, loan, purchase, or a relationship with the client) must be disclosed and independent advice recommended before continuing.

Acting for both lender and borrower in the same mortgage transaction is generally prohibited because their interests may diverge; consent and independent advice are minimum safeguards.

Where a conflict arises mid-retainer, the solicitor must cease acting for at least one client, or all, and must not use one client's information against another.

A solicitor must not act where a duty to a third party or to the court would be compromised by the duty to the client.

Confidentiality is an ethical duty covering all information about the client's affairs obtained in the retainer; it survives termination of the retainer and the client's death.

Legal advice privilege protects confidential communications between client and legal adviser made for the dominant purpose of giving or receiving legal advice.

Litigation privilege protects communications and documents created for the dominant purpose of contemplated or pending litigation, including communications with third parties such as experts.

Privilege belongs to the client, can be waived only by the client (or by the court in limited circumstances), and is not lost by the solicitor moving firm.

Permitted disclosures include client consent, a statutory obligation (for example anti-money laundering reporting), a court order, prevention of serious crime, defending a claim by the client, and recovery of fees.

Privilege does not attach to communications made to further a crime or fraud, and disclosure may then be justified.

A solicitor who receives a privileged document by mistake must notify the other side and must not exploit it without the court's determination.

Confidentiality obligations extend to employees, contractors and former staff, and require secure storage, retention and destruction of client material.

Competence requires the knowledge, skill and care reasonably expected for the matter; a solicitor must decline work or obtain supervision and research where the required expertise is absent.

Diligence requires active progression of the matter, meeting deadlines, and diarising all limitation and procedural dates.

The client must be kept informed of material developments, have options and risks explained, and receive prompt responses to reasonable queries.

Instructions should be confirmed in writing, and the client's decisions on key steps (plea, settlement, expenditure) recorded on file.

Where a client's decision-making capacity is impaired, the solicitor should take instructions as far as possible, act in the client's best interests, and consider involving a court-appointed representative.

A solicitor is responsible for work delegated to trainees and support staff; delegation requires adequate instruction and supervision.

Advising on alternatives to litigation, including mediation and negotiation, and on the cost-benefit of each option, forms part of competent advice.

Withdrawal, if unavoidable, must be on reasonable notice and must leave the client's position no worse; the file must be handed over promptly on request subject to any lien.

Client money must be lodged in a client account, kept separate from the office account, and used only for the client's purposes.

A solicitor may not mix client money with the firm's own money; fees may be transferred from the client account only after a bill has been delivered or the client has agreed the amount.

Client money must be paid out without undue delay once the purpose for which it is held has been fulfilled.

Fees must be fair and reasonable and consistent with the written costs information given; contingency or success-based fees in contentious business are prohibited as maintenance and champerty.

A client may have a solicitor's bill of costs reviewed by the appropriate court officer, and the solicitor must explain this right when requested.

Undertakings are personal and binding; a solicitor should give one only where performance is within the solicitor's control and must honour it.

A solicitor holds a lien over client documents and funds for unpaid costs, but the court may order release where the documents are needed to defend criminal or other proceedings.

Client property must be recorded, kept safe and returned on request; the Solicitors Accounts Regulations require accurate books, records and an annual accountant's report.

The duty to the court overrides the client's instructions: a solicitor must not mislead the court, must cite relevant adverse authorities, and must correct any misleading statement promptly.

A solicitor must not draft or present a document, affidavit or submission known to be false or reckless as to its truth.

A solicitor must not communicate directly with a party known to be legally represented about the matter without the consent of that party's lawyer.

Witnesses must not be coached to give false evidence, and their evidence must not be improperly influenced or their recollection altered.

Dealings with third parties must be honest; a solicitor must not misrepresent the client's position, the solicitor's authority, or the strength of a claim.

Anti-money laundering obligations require client due diligence, identity verification, scrutiny of transactions, and suspicious transaction reports to the authorities without tipping off the client.

A solicitor who becomes aware of serious misconduct by another solicitor is expected to report it to the Law Society rather than conceal it.

A solicitor must refuse to act, or must withdraw, where the client's purpose is to use the solicitor's services to commit a fraud or other dishonesty.