Ethics in the practice of law: a profession, a business or both?

13/06/2017

5:30pm – 7:00pm, Tuesday, 20 June 2017, Level 21, Queen’s Square

This second ethics themed Sydney event of the Academy of Law for 2017 brings together an eminent panel of participants in the Australian legal services market to debate the tension between the ancient fiduciary-based ethical principles on which the legal profession is based and the modern mercantile profit-driven business objectives of those who make their living out of the practice of law. While that tension has long been a feature of legal practice, it has become more acute as firms have grown larger and more profitable (and more expensive to run), a rapid evolutionary process that, in a few short decades, has found its apotheosis in today’s global law firms of +1,000 partners with billings in the billions of dollars. Some firms have even become listed companies, a significant legal development that has imposed additional layers of duties and responsibilities on the principals and yielded mixed success. A stellar panel will be moderated by Fiona McLeod SC, President of the Law Council of Australia. Learn more here.