Legal Ethics and Professional Conduct
What the exam tests
Questions test the duties of lawyers and judges: independence, confidentiality, conflicts of interest, handling client money, relations with the court and colleagues, and the disciplinary process.
Core duties of the lawyer
- Independence: the lawyer advises honestly and is not a mere instrument of the client's wishes.
- Confidentiality covers everything learned in the mandate and continues indefinitely after it ends; disclosure is permitted only with informed consent or where the law requires it to prevent a serious crime.
- Conflicts of interest: a lawyer may not represent opposing parties in the same matter, and must decline or withdraw where personal interests or a previous client's confidences are at risk.
- Client funds must be held in a separate account and accounted for; fees should be agreed in writing and must not be contingent on the outcome of criminal proceedings.
- Advertising must be truthful and dignified; the lawyer must not solicit clients improperly.
- Duty to the court: no false evidence, no misleading submissions, no coaching of witnesses, respect for procedural deadlines.
Judges
Judges must be independent, impartial, and must recuse themselves where personal interest, family relationship or prior involvement exists. Incompatibilities and restrictions on political activity protect impartiality.
Discipline
Complaints go to the Bar; a disciplinary prosecutor investigates and a panel decides, with the right to be heard. Sanctions range from warning to fine and disbarment.
Worked example
A lawyer is asked to draft a sale contract for both buyer and seller. The interests are structurally opposed on price and warranties, so the lawyer must disclose the conflict and decline both mandates.
Traps that cost marks
- Believing confidentiality ends with the mandate.
- Treating the client's instruction as overriding the duty to the court.
- Accepting a contingency fee in a criminal case.