The legal profession and business must adhere to high ethical
standards to maintain public trust. This ALA Code of Professional
Ethics sets forth guidelines or standards for the ethical
administration of legal practices - private firms, legal clinics,
corporate legal departments, governmental agencies and the courts.
Legal
administrators at all levels must become familiar with these standards
and incorporate them into their everyday performance. They should also
study and comply with all ethical guidelines of bar associations and
law societies which apply in their own jurisdictions.
Furthermore,
they must take the lead in communicating relevant standards to staff
personnel who may be less familiar than lawyers with the ethical
guidelines of bar associations and law societies, and in communicating
appropriate policies and procedures to lawyers.
Principles and Rules of Conduct Honesty The professional legal administrator shall:
Be open and honest in all relationships with attorneys, employees and others.
Never compromise the reputation or good of the legal practice by dishonest or illegal behavior.
Integrity
The professional legal administrator shall:
Avoid actual or apparent conflicts of interest. Advise all appropriate parties of any potential conflicts.
Never engage in activities that would prejudice the ethical performance of job responsibilities .
Refuse
any gift, favor or hospitality that would influence or appear to
influence actions, unless such item is fully disclosed to and approved
by management.
Never solicit or accept any
personal or family fee, commission, gift, gratuity, discount or loan
for performing job duties or providing services to existing or
potential clients.
Pursue and promote fair
and equitable employment practices and oppose discrimination which is
based upon gender, age, race, religious creed, national origin, sexual
orientation, physical disability, marital, parental or veteran status.
Endeavor to foster a work environment founded on respect and dignity and free of sexual harassment.
Objectivity The professional legal administrator shall:
Communicate all information fairly and objectively.
Fully disclose all known information that would be material to a particular management or financial decision.
Fully
disclose all relevant information required for an intended user to
understand management reports, employee communications, business
recommendations and comments.
Competence The professional legal administrator shall:
Maintain
an appropriate level of professional competence and enhance existing
skills through ongoing professional education programs, peer group
associations and self training.
Recognize and
communicate professional limitations or other constraints that would
preclude responsible judgment or successful performance of an activity.
Ensure that delegated tasks are responsibly assigned and competently performed.
Make every effort to ensure that subordinates have necessary skills and levels of competence.
Independence The professional legal administrator shall:
Ensure that all personal political activities are separated from the legal practice.
Never make investments which would benefit from inside knowledge of the legal practice or its clients.
Exercise
prudence and restraint in personal financial affairs, including
speculative investment and margin accounts, in order to avoid debts and
other financial obligations which could compromise independence and
professional judgment.
Professional Responsibility The professional legal administrator shall:
Promulgate
a positive image of the legal practice to its clients and potential
clients; attorneys and staff personnel; bankers, consultants and
vendors; the press; governmental agencies; the legal community; and all
other relevant audiences.
Exercise reasonable diligence in
gathering business data and information from internal and external
sources and in reporting that information in a manner which facilitates
informed decision-making.
Confidentiality
The professional legal administrator shall:
Never
disclose confidential information acquired in the course of employment,
whether or not still employed by that legal practice, except when
legally obligated to do so.
Inform
subordinates that confidentiality of information acquired in the course
of their work is essential, and monitor their activities to ensure that
confidentiality is maintained.
Ensure that
all confidential and proprietary information acquired in the course of
duty is used solely for legal practice purposes, is not provided to
unauthorized persons, and is not used for the purpose of furthering a
private interest or making a personal profit.
Service The professional legal administrator shall:
Perform business duties in good faith in a manner believed to be in the best interests of the legal practice.
Perform duties only within assigned authority.
Accomplish assigned tasks in a timely manner.
Promote
and monitor guidelines for practice development and marketing
activities to ensure that those activities are appropriate for the
legal practice and conform with applicable professional guidelines.
