Professional Legal Ethics: Critical Interrogations

by Donald Nicolson, Julian Webb

Overview

Ethics and regulation have become catchwords of the late 1990s, yet relatively little has been written about the ethical discourse and regulation of the legal professions in England and Wales. This book represents the first attempt to subject the ethical discourse of the English legal professions to in-depth analysis and sustained critique.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198764717
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	03/23/2000
Pages:	342
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Donald Nicolson: taught at the Universities of Cape Town, Warwick and Reading before taking up a post at the University of Bristol in 1992. Here he teaches jurisprudence, legal methods, criminal law and gender and the law. He also has a research interest in evidence theory. He is on the editorial board of Evidence and Proof and Legal Ethics and the founder and Director of the University of Bristol Law Clinic.

Julian Webb: After completing a research degree at Warwick University in the early 1980s, Julian held various teaching and research posts in London before moving to the University of the West of England, Bristol in 1988, where he was consecutively a senior and principal lecturer in the Law Faculty and, finally, Professor of Socio-Legal Studies. In March 1999 he returned to London as Professor of Law at the University of Westminster, where he continues to teach and research in the areas of dispute resolution, legal ethics and legal education. He is articles editor of

Table of Contents

1. IntroductionLawyers And JusticeDefining Professional Legal EthicsAims, Methods And Arguments2. The Philosophical Context: Theoretical Approaches To The Content And Status Of EthicsIntroductionThe Scope Of Philosophical EthicsDeontological EthicsConsequentialismVirtue EthicsPsychology, Feminism And The Ethic Of CarePostmodernism And The Ethics Of AlterityConclusion3. The Social Context: Professional Deals And Institutional SettingsIntroductionThe Ideals Of The Legal ProfessionsThe Procedural ContextProfessional Structures And Institutional ContextsThe Demographic ContextThe Educational ContextThe Business ContextConclusions4. The Regulatory Context: Ethics And Professional Self-RegulationIntroductionThe Institutions Of Self-RegulationCodes Of ConductThe Enforcement Mechanisms5. Duties To The Client: Autonomy And Control In The Lawyer-Client RelationshipIntroductionBoundaries Of AutonomyThe Legal Basis Of Lawyer-Client RelationsControl In The Lawyer-Client RelationshipAutonomy: A Critique And Re-EvaluationReconptualising Duties To The ClientConclusion: Implication For The Form And Focus Of Codes6. The Lawyers Amoral Role And Lawyer ImmoralityIntroductionThe Lawyers Amoral RoleCriticisms Of Lawyer BehaviourConclusion7. Justifying Neutral PartianshipIntroductionNeutral Partisanship And Adversarial SystemNeutral Partianship And Liberal ValuesNeutral Partianship And The Institutions Of Liberal GovernmentConclusion8. Reforming The Lawyers Amoral RoleIntroductionAlternatives To Neutral PartianshipMoral Activism And Ethical FoundationsA Contextual Approach To Immoral Ends And MeansImmoral Ends And Decisions To RepresentImmoral Means And Lawyer TacticsA Decision Making Schema For Morally Activist Lawyers9. ConfidentialityIntroductionThe Current PositionCriticisms Of The Current PositionJustifying ConfidentialityA Contextual Approach To ConfidentialityConclusion10. Conclusion: Towards A More Ethical ProfessionThe Dominance Of Formalism And LiberalismThe Contextual AlternativePossible Objections To A Contextual ApproachInstitutionalising An Ethical Professionalism