As part of its professional ethics programme, the Law Society of England and Wales is working in partnership with the Inter-Disciplinary Ethics Applied Centre (IDEA) at the University of Leeds to create a new resource to support in-house solicitors.
“In-house solicitors are in a unique position, as both legal advisors and business advisors to their employers, which can often give rise to competing pressures and ethical dilemmas,” said Law Society president Nick Emmerson.
“We know ethics is a key topic the profession would like more support on. Over the past four months, the IDEA Centre has carried out research to identify the challenges faced by the in-house community, explore potential solutions and define the scope of the project.”
Nick Emmerson added: “The next stage of the research will involve focus groups and one-to-one interviews with in-house solicitors, to explore the issues in greater detail and to inform the content of the framework.
“The new resource will be launched next year, with a view to creating a space to encourage conversations among in-house solicitors and their non-solicitor colleagues.
“We hope this will prompt a broader conversation about ethical practice in the in-house profession and encourage in-house solicitors to share their experiences via a network where they can develop collaborative approaches and foster greater solidarity in the profession.”
Dr Jim Baxter, professional ethics consultancy team leader at the IDEA Centre, said: “In-house solicitors face a distinctive set of ethical challenges due to their unique position within organisations, and the need to wield influence while maintaining independence.
“We’ve learned a lot already through the research and are looking forward to putting this knowledge into practice by developing a set of tools and resources that can support and empower the in-house community in meeting their ethical challenges. This is not just about helping individual solicitors, but also about contributing to a sense of collective solidarity – a self-identifying, vibrant community – in the profession as a whole.”
