Legal and Ethical Issues in Solicitor's Code of Conduct

Running head: RESIT COURSEWORK ASSESSMENT
RESIT COURSEWORK ASSESSMENT
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

RESIT COURSEWORK ASSESSMENT1
Introduction
A code of professional conducts can be described as to be outlining each ethical principle
that would be governing the decisions and behaviors of the professionals in any company or
organization. The codes are seen as to be providing for the guidelines that the professionals are
needed to be following with relation to their behavior, handling of clients and their data,
managing any conflict in interest. In the United Kingdom the solicitors are seen as regulated by
the Solicitors’ Code of Conduct1 introduced under the provisions of the Solicitors Regulation
Authority. The firms in the United Kingdom providing legal services are guided by the
provisions of the SRA Code of Conducts for Firms2. In this essay advice has been provided to a
firm and its solicitors for the possible legal and ethical issues in concern with an issue with an
employee named Mike.
Code of Conduct
The SRA Code of Conduct for Firms can be seen as to be describing the standards and
controls in business that are being expected from the firms that have been authorized by the
Solicitors Regulation Authority for providing legal services. For any failure in meeting the
standards of the SRA or any breach of the code by the employees, the firm would be held
responsible and the SRA would be seen as taking regulatory actions against the firm as an entity
or against the managers or compliance officers who are responsible to ensure that the standards
have been met. Paragraph 8.1 of the code provides for the joint and several responsibility of all
1 Solicitors’ Code of Conduct
2 SRA Code of Conducts for Firms

RESIT COURSEWORK ASSESSMENT2
the managers or any other governing body for making the firm being in compliance with the
provisions of the code.
The SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs and RFLs are seen as describing the
professionalism standards that are being expected from the solicitors, registered European
lawyers and registered foreign lawyers providing legal services who have been authorized by the
SRA. The SRA code of conduct can be seen as applying to the conducts and behavior of any
legal professional and further comprises of a framework for practicing in an ethical and
competent way. The code provides for the standard for the legal professionals to be acting fairly
by maintaining trust, being competent with the services provided, conflict of interests,
confidentiality and disclosure, being cooperative and accountable, publicity.
In the current scenario it was seen that Mike had been having stress about his home
pressure which is affecting his work. He was seen as discussing about his problem to his senior
partner but he had been turning a deaf ear to Mike’s problems and had been piling up works for
Mike. Because of both personal and work problems Mike is seen as doing mistakes in his job and
often is not careful with the information and files of the clients he even forgot to renew his
practicing certificate. Another issue in the current scenario is that Mike’s brother, who had been
arrested for fighting after being intoxicated, had asked Mike to be defending him in the capacity
of Mike as a criminal lawyer and give a false statement to the police about the crime committed
by Jack, which Mike was seen as following by giving a false statement to the police as was asked
from him. The next day Mike had missed appointments with two new clients as he reached to
work very late. When he reached work he found out that the fight for which his brother Jack was
arrested for had been posted on Facebook and there have been rude comments about the firm
written beside the picture of Mike.