Code Of Professional Conduct For Lawyers In Australia - Research And Interview Report

Report on the Research for the Professional Body

Discuss about the Code of Professional Conduct for Lawyers in Australia.

The report aims at devising a series of interview questions which could help in understanding the impact of the ethical and professional behavior on the legal environment. The report also requires to conduct research of the professional body and the lawyers in Australia The report would be helping in understanding the issues associated with the legal aspects  in the country. The main aim is to understand how they manage and police their codes in order to eradicate the issues. The interview is to be conducted on the basis of the questions being formulated. The conduction of interview would be helping in acquiring useful and relevant information related to the professional conduct in the legal profession as followed by the professional bodies and lawyers in Australia. 

Introduction

Law Council of Australia is a professional body that regulates and governs the professional code of conduct and rules for the Australian legal profession, which is required to be followed in the law societies and bar associations of the states and territories across Australia (Curran et al, 2014). The report aims at devising a series of interview questions which could help in understanding the impact of the ethical and professional behavior on the legal environment. The face to face interview is conducted on the members of the body. The report requires to conduct research of the Law Council of Australia related to the law sector in Australia. This research would be helping in understanding the issues associated with the legal aspects  in the country. The main aim is to understand how they manage and police their codes in order to eradicate the issues. The interview is to be conducted on the basis of the questions being formulated in order to get the useful and relevant information related to the ethics in the profession as followed by the professional body in Australia.  

1: What are the issues faced by the body while working in the nursing sector?

The Law Council of Australia has to constantly deal with the situations that compromise the rules and regulations in the law sector (Harris & Hargovan, 2016). The regulatory body also needs to resolve the legal isssues in order to safeguard the obligations and ethical principles. Moreover, the body also needs to regulate the actions to be followed in the law sector and check if the professional conduct is implemented in every state and territory across Australia. The various issues which the council needs to solve is the aftermath of the inability of the lawyers to resolve the matters of their respective clients, intensive cases, dispute in the justice, and legal issues related toi the formal and informal management of situations.

Interview Questions

2: How do you manage and police their code?

Law Council of Australia helps in developing a single and uniform set of rules which every state and territory in Australia need to follow (Campbell & Lindsay, 2014). These set of rules governs the ethical and proifessional conduct of the lawyers practicing all over Australia. The rules are first released in the form of consultation drafts which the council carefully considers and decides on implementing the same in public. The most common legal issues requiring legal consent are the fraud or deception cases, negligence in the part of individuals, drug or alcohol abuse, conviction of a criminal offense and abusive behavior.

3: How do they communicate with the members?

The Law Council of Australia comprises of the organization structure that is followed in the law profession. The board comprises of committees who are responsible for developing the rules and regulations related to the law sector. These set of rules governs the ethical and proifessional conduct of the lawyers practicing all over Australia. The rules are first released in the form of consultation drafts which the council carefully considers with the help of Professional Ethics Committee (Zander, 2015). The approval of the rules are then approved by the State Government for the state and territories in Australi to follow.

4: Legal ramifications if the code is breached?

The  Law Council of Australia is responsible for creating the Administrative disciplinary actions for the common people including lawyers who do not properly follow ethics in the working environment. This unethical conduct may lead to implicate strict actions under the Administrative law actions (Curran et al., 2014). If the board imposes a punishment on the lawyers, the disciplinary actions to be taken can be one or more of the following:

• Suspension of the license of the lawyers
• Revocation of the license
• Reprimand letter to be published in the reports of the board
• Admonishment letter in the file of the lawyers
• Fine imposition
• Probation for continuing the practice

Conclusion

The report deals in conducting research of the professional body related to the law sector in Australia in order to understand the issues related to the profession in the country. The regulatory bodies including Law Council of Australia are repsonsible for implicating the rules and regulations in the country such that to maintain the standards of the law practice. The interview is to be conducted on the basis of the questions being formulated in order to get the useful and relevant information related to the ethics in the profession as followed by the lawyers and law governing bodies in Australia.

Introduction

Lawyers are the professionals who are responsible for conducting the professional ethics and maintaining standards related to the law sector, within the working environment and in practice (Heineman et al, 2014). The main objective of the report is to devise a series of interview questions in order to understand how the ethics and professional behavior impacts on the real work life environment of the lawyers in Australia. The interview is conducted on the lawyers face to face. The report also requires conducting research of the nursing sector in Australia in order to understand the issues that the lawyers have to face in the country. The main aim is to understand how they manage their codes in order to eradicate the issues. The interview is to be conducted on the basis of the questions being formulated in order to get the useful and relevant information related to the ethics in the profession as followed by the lawyers in Australia. 

Conclusion

1: How aware are you of the codes as governed by your professional bodies?

The lawyers are aware of the fact that their code of conduct in the practice is responsible for building and maintaining public trust in the profession. The lawyers are professionals and are aware of the undertaking attributes that are within their scope of practice. This awareness help the lawyers to gain knowledge about the ethics and professional code of conduct help them in maintaining the standards of their profession such that to bring credit upon the reputation of the same in the long run (Freedman, 2012).

2: What is the influence of the codes on their behavior?

The impact of the professional code of conduct in the behavior of the lawyers is such that they maintain competence within their participation in the profession. This maintenance of competence within their profession helps them in maintaining and upgrading their skills and knowledge relevant to the practice in the professional settings (Pepper, 2015).

3: What can the consequences in their career if you breach either your professional body’s code or the organizations code/s?

The Law Council of Australia is responsible for creating the Administrative disciplinary actions for the lawyers which if not properly followed in the working environment may lead to implicate strict actions under the Administrative law actions (Curran et al., 2014). The lawyers are aware of the fact that they being subjected to the following implications if they are found to breach certain rules or code of ethics: 

• The lawyers are liable to be suspended and their licenses to be evocated
• Fine could be imposed on them
• They could be terminated from conducting the practice in the future

Conclusion

The report deals in conducting research on the practices related to the law sector in Australia in order to understand the issues related to the lawyers in the country. The report aims at understanding how they manage and follow the professional codes in order to eradicate the issues. There are certain legal aspects and standards which the lawyers should be aware of such that to provide standard services in the future. The interview is to be conducted on the basis of the questions being formulated in order to get the useful and relevant information related to the ethics in the profession as followed by the lawyers in Australia.

Similarities

From the analysis of the interview being conducted on the professional body and the individual lawyers working in the sector, it can be evident that code of professional conduct and ethics is the major link between both the parties which the parties abide by, while operating in the working environment. There are certain rules which both the parties need to implement in order to get quality outcomes of the law profession. Both the parties give same adherence to the codes and conduct that is required to be maintained in the working environment. Moreover, the maintenance of competence includes the participation in the education related to the ongoing profession such that to maintain and upgrade appropriate skills and knowledge associated with the law practices. Besides, they are also aware of the undertaking activities, scope of practice, knowledge, competency, and lawful authority related to the current practice.

Report for the Interview with a Professional

The major difference between the board and the lawyers is that the Law Council of Australia helps in governing the policies, rules and regulations which the lawyers are required to implement in their practices. However, it should be noted that the policies, rules and regulations are also applicable to the board members and are liable to legal actions if any of them are found to breach the professional code of conduct and ethics within the working environment that could compensate with the legal standards.

From the analysis of the interview, it could be evident that the Code of Professional conduct for lawyers is a set of standards which is required to be followed in the law societies and bar associations of the states and territories across Australia. The code helps in governing the law profession which is expected to implement standard practice in a professional manner. Lawyers have the responsibility to impart legal aspects the individual society such that to convey justice to the needs of the community, individual groups and profession. On the other hand, there are regulatory bodies that are responsible for the development and implications of the policies, rules and regulations for the lawyers to abide by the same. The policies and procedures as implemented by the regulatory bodies help in improving the effectiveness of the accreditation, assessment and monitoring of the practices and programs related to the legal aspects in the society and community.

Conclusion

The report also requires conducting research of the professional body and the lawyers in Australia in order to understand the issues related to the profession bodies and the lawyers in the country. The main objective of the report is to understand how they manage and police their codes in order to eradicate the issues. The report helps in devising a series of interview questions for the lawyers and the professional bodies related to the sector in order to understand how the ethics and professional behavior impacts on the real work life environment of the law profession. The report then, helps in analyzing the similarities and differences from the outcome of the interview of both the lawyers and the professional bodies related to the sector. The interview is to be conducted on the basis of the questions being formulated in order to get the useful and relevant information related to the ethics in the profession as followed by the professional bodies and lawyers in Australia.

References

Campbell, S., & Lindsay, K. (2014). Lawyers of the future: Creating aspirations, forging connections and facilitating professional links in rural and regional contexts. International Journal of Rural Law and Policy, (2).

Curran, L., Dickson, J., & Noone, M. A. (2014). Pushing The Boundaries or Preserving the Status Quo? Designing Clinical Programs to Teach Law Students a Deep Understanding of Ethical Practice. International Journal of Clinical Legal Education, 8, 104-122.

Freedman, M. H. (2012). A Critique of Philosophizing About Lawyers’ Ethics.Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics, 25(89), 11-07.

Harris, J., & Hargovan, A. (2016). Chartered secretary: Productivity Commission safe harbour proposal for insolvent trading. Governance Directions, 68(1), 9.

Heineman Jr, B. W., Lee, W. F., & Wilkins, D. B. (2014). Lawyers as Professionals and as Citizens: Key Roles and Responsibilities in the 21st Century.

Pepper, S. L. (2015). Three Dichotomies in Lawyers' Ethics (with Particular Attention to the Corporation as Client). Geo. J. Legal Ethics, 28, 1069.

Zander, M., 2015. The law-making process. Bloomsbury Publishing.