Hamilton and Others-v-Post-Office [2021] EWCA Crim 577 is a pretty gut wrenching tale of corporate misdeeds. All the wrong doing is rather faceless at the minute, but it cannot – one hopes – remain…| Lawyer Watch
Both times the Ayinde case has come before the courts the reaction has been to focus on AI and the training and supervision of the pupil barrister in question. The reaction has not focused on the more elementary conduct problems. And it is worth noting that the claims made about training and supervision of the … Continue reading This is not a training and supervision case| Lawyer Watch
Look, it is an AI case, and I might come back to that part, but for now I think we need to focus on the bigger ‘not-AI’ picture. Not least because saying AI is not reliable and one should check one’s sources, particularly when challenged is, well, table stakes. Or, sadly, because a young lawyer’s … Continue reading This is still not an AI case| Lawyer Watch
The Law Society have published their response to the LSB’s consultation ethics. They adopt the well-worn tactic of claiming there is no evidence for the claims they do not like and not provid…| Lawyer Watch
Reading a punchy, well-written post by Andy Cooke on the Law Society’s recently launched in-house lawyer protocol, got me thinking about the arguments that get in the way of a sensible, practical discussion of “ethics”. I thought what I could do that might help is offer up a list of red-herrings. The kinds of points … Continue reading Realist Ethics for Lawyers #101| Lawyer Watch
Dan Neidle, tax lawyer turned campaigner, journalist and quasi-legal regulator has an absolutely wild story to tell about a barrister’s role in tax avoidance. He looks back to a blog written …| Lawyer Watch
Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay Frederick Ayinde, R (on the application of) v The London Borough of Haringey [2025] EWHC 1040 (Admin) has deservedly got a lot of press as the fi…| Lawyer Watch
Image by bohed from Pixabay Oops. He did it again. Mr Woolf on his Self-Pity Me tour (his first rodeo was here; the horse was barely visible). Ok. That’s not nice. Let me explain. Mr Woolf was suspended for 12 months by the SDT for a lack of integrity that he admitted. It arose out of an attempt … Continue reading Professional fouls: stress tests and self-pity| Lawyer Watch
My wife is making me watch White Lotus. I can’t tell you how much I hate it. I really hate it, but in a very low-voltage way. I could read a book, but I watch it anyway. I feel bad but then I…| Lawyer Watch
An interesting little nugget appeared in the Guardian report of litigation between it and the actor Noel Clarke: On his second day of being cross-examined in the witness box, Clarke was asked about a letter sent to Imogen*, an actor who is due to give evidence that she was “harassed and preyed on” by the … Continue reading SLAPPing in the course of proceedings?| Lawyer Watch
I have been neglecting lawyerwatch with the PO Scandal work still occupying a great deal of my time (those pesky Hamlyn’s need turning into a book and we have lots of things coming on our PO …| Lawyer Watch
One of the common responses to my claims about the ethical shortcomings in the legal professions is that the vast majority of lawyers are ‘good guys’ (rather beside the point I am afrai…| Lawyer Watch
I have written a post on my PO Scandal Substack about the Corporate Governance experts’ report laid before the Inquiry recently. There is some interesting discussion of the role of GCs (somewhat dependent on a GC reports to CEO and has a dotted line to the Chair model, which I would say is less ubiquitous … Continue reading The Axis of Feeble?| Lawyer Watch
This post summarises proposals made to address problems of honesty and integrity in commercial and public life related to lawyers in the third Hamlyn Lecture 2024. Those proposals encompass, but are not confined to, professional regulation of lawyers. They go wider. Corporate governance approaches and the courts, for example, are part of the ethics ecosystem … Continue reading Lawyers Ethics: A call for action| Lawyer Watch
A few v short things in this post… Hamlyn I have been blown away by the response to the first two Hamlyn lectures. Thank you so much to all those who have come to the events or watched the recorded version of the talks online. The conversations in and around these events have been really … Continue reading What can be done about lawyers’ ethics?| Lawyer Watch
Guest post by Graeme Johnston The new edition of the UK government’s Legal Risk Guidance, published on 7 November 2024, addresses what legal risk means and how to approach it. In 2018, a freedom of information request revealed that, in July 2015, a ‘revised’ two-page Guidance Note on Legal Risk had been issued, under the newly-elected … Continue reading Legal advice as risk assessment: New AG guidance, what does it mean?| Lawyer Watch
The Attorney General, Richard Hermer KC made a heartening announcement in his recent Bingham lecture “promoting a rule of law culture, which builds public trust in the law and its institutions“: Image by Robin Higgins from Pixabay Hermer’s trailing of this allows me a teaser of my own. I’ve written a section on this very … Continue reading Doing the right thing on a rule of law culture, a teaser…| Lawyer Watch
The Post Office Project team (big thanks to Alex and Sally) have put together a video below. The aim was to capture how lawyers have said sorry or otherwise dealt with accusations put before them. It is hard at the best of times to accept fault. Many of these lawyers may think, and some in this group … Continue reading How lawyers say sorry| Lawyer Watch
Three brief stories of ascending seriousness on the theme of jokes. We all, lawyers included, have various defence mechanisms against taking ethics seriously. Lawyers like to pretend that it’s too philosophical, that lawyers do law not morality, or – like bad driving – it’s other people not them that veer off the road. All of … Continue reading Is professional ethics a joke?| Lawyer Watch
Guest post: Claire Bradley has an interest in the history of lawyers’ ethics and has been writing fascinating posts on BlueSky. Here’s one turned into a blogpost, you can follow her on Bluesky here, and we/she would be really interested in your thoughts in the comments below the post. Wrottesley, who wrote the book “On … Continue reading The morality of cross-examination – a debate from history?| Lawyer Watch
This year’s Hamlyn Lectures will be given by yours truly in Exeter, Leeds, and London (You can book by clicking the links on the City names) . These lectures are open to all and there is no charge.…| Lawyer Watch
Guest post by Dr Karen Nokes, Lecturer, UCL Laws I had the pleasure on Monday 3rd June to listen to an insightful ‘Master’s Lecture’ by my colleague and good friend Professor Steven Vaughan, hosted…| Lawyer Watch
On Monday, I had the enormous pleasure of giving the 2024 ‘Master’s Lecture’ on behalf of Sarah de Gay, Master Solicitor of the City of London Solicitors Company. I spoke about the legal/professional requirement on solicitors to act with integrity. The full text of my talk can be found here. Below are my closing remarks. … Continue reading Moral Remainders: What Does It Mean To Act With Professional Integrity?| Lawyer Watch
Jenifer Swallow has written an interesting piece on ethics as compliance. She makes a vital point: a great deal of the ethics problems that make the papers (and lead to disciplinary problems) are m…| Lawyer Watch
Yesterday, the European Court of Human Rights delivered judgment in three climate change cases. In one, the claimants were partially successful; a finding that there had been a violation of Article…| Lawyer Watch
A guest post by Graeme Johnston “Hey Daisy darling / Don’t give them all you can /Why don’t you keep a few more cards in your hand? / I know you’ll only say a thing you believe to be true / But the…| Lawyer Watch
I try to resist posting PO stuff on here too often as my substack (sign up here) exists purely for that but a piece I wrote for the Times last week, Postmasters punished by an adversarial legal cul…| Lawyer Watch
What follows is an opinion piece I wrote in a free-to-read report published earlier this month and following a November 2023 conference with lawyers and academics at the University of Oxford on climate change litigation. The following is published with the kind permission of Dr Ekaterina Aristova who led the conference and report. There is … Continue reading Let’s Talk about the Lawyers: Climate Change Litigation, Professional Ethics, and ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ Case Outcomes| Lawyer Watch
The settling of a potential libel action has raised interesting questions about the legal advice that may or may not have been given on the Michelle’ Donelan’s fateful, baseless tweet about Professor Kate Sang (see in particular here by David Allen Green). David raises the possibility that the legal advice Donelan was given may have … Continue reading Michelle Donelan and Legal Risk| Lawyer Watch
Guest post by Graeme Johnston This post seeks to summarise the current position on retired UK senior judges returning to legal practice and suggests that it would be good to clarify it officially. Background In June 2023, the academics Patrick O’Brien and Ben Yong published a research paper on legal work done by retired judges. … Continue reading The first rule of Retired Judges Club?| Lawyer Watch
This is a guest post by Graeme Johnston. The English courts decided long ago that there is an iniquity exception from legal professional privilege. ‘Iniquity’ includes, but is wider than, fraud or crime. It is the client’s iniquity that generates the exception: the lawyer’s guilt or innocence is irrelevant. Despite the longevity of the concept, … Continue reading Interlocutory Iniquity| Lawyer Watch
This is just a quick catch up blog things that happened last week which might be of interest. First the Legal Services Board has announced intentions to move forward on their rule of law work. The Board’s Board paper is here and draws significantly on the report I did with Steven Vaughan and Kenta Tsuda. … Continue reading Catch up to 29 Jan| Lawyer Watch
This is his guest post by William Bowes. It appeared first on Paul Gilbert’s site. William is the General Counsel of the global media company, Conde Nast. He has spent most of his career helping creators continue to sustainably make and share content in a globally disrupted and digitally driven world whilst trying to ensure … Continue reading How to be a critical friend| Lawyer Watch
A new post on lawyers apologies and non-apologies in the Post Office case over on substack. Click here| Lawyer Watch
Resolution. I am going tor try and write short, regular updates on things I think are worth noting in the vague territory of lawyers and their conduct.. Not much happened this week, save of course the cacophony of awful PO stuff, with Tom Witherow of the Times yesterday informing us that the Inquiry has 80 … Continue reading New Year round up| Lawyer Watch
Given the intense interest in the Post Office scandal being generated by ITV’s moving drama on Mr. Bates vs Post Office it is worth setting out a simple, general summary of the extent to which the story involves lawyers. If you ask me, where were the lawyers, I am afraid I have to say, everywhere: … Continue reading Post Office Scandal: Where were the lawyers? (A primer)| Lawyer Watch
I am very pleased to be able to announce that I have been invited by the Hamlyn Trust to give the 2024 lectures. For someone like me, it is an incredible honour (you can read more about them here and here). With the Post Office Scandal, SLAPPs, NDAs, the involvement of lawyers in climate harm, … Continue reading Hamlyn 2024: Frail Professionalism| Lawyer Watch
I was musing recently this week on the uncomfortable regularity with which lawyers’ ethics stories make the news these days. There was a time when there was maybe one case a month that I really wanted to write about and almost none were newsworthy. Things have changed but the reasons for that are for another … Continue reading Arbitration and the rule of law: keeping it in the family| Lawyer Watch
I have been told tales of how Boards or senior executives try to keep the dirty secrets of their business away from the Board. And readers will have heard me mention mutual irresponsibility many times. This is a story which walks, talks, and quacks like that. But rather than analyse it in detail what I … Continue reading Joking aside, what does the judge say about lawyers in the Harry v MGN case?| Lawyer Watch
This is an edited version of a talk given by Richard Moorhead and Steven Vaughan to the pre-launch of our report for the Legal Services Board on lawyers’ ethics and the rule of law. Why do we have lawyers? Well, one answer is that lawyers are the products of societies that are governed by law … Continue reading Lawyers’ Ethics and the Rule of Law – Taking Forward the Debate| Lawyer Watch
I made a recent appearance on the great Double Jeopardy podcast. I enjoyed it very much. Along with the Cab Rank Rule and the Post Office, there was a bit of a skirmish on SLAPPs (it was quite skirmishy). It prompted me to check out something that has been bothering me for some time. Why … Continue reading SLAPP slips| Lawyer Watch
Sir Edward Garnier KC did a nice turn on the Today programme this morning when asked on to talk about the timidity (his word) of the CCRC. He pointed out how the typical response to miscarriages of justice from the legal establishment (my word) was a rather pallid, “Oh dear mistakes happen, let’s move on, … Continue reading Omerta and ingroup wrongdoing| Lawyer Watch
The Horizon IT Inquiry restarts next week. Phase 4 covers “Action against Sub-postmasters and others: policy making, audits and investigations, civil and criminal proceedings, knowledge of and responsibility for failures in investigation and disclosure.” Phase 5, “Redress: access to justice, Second Sight, Complaint Review and Mediation Scheme, conduct of the group litigation, responding to the … Continue reading On the Horizon| Lawyer Watch
How corporate codes and lawyers’ ethics can interact. An example… This post appeared first on my Post Office substack. The Post Office Code of Conduct (version 11, November 2023) attrac…| Lawyer Watch
You may have noticed an uptick in news stories about the Post Office Scandal as 2023 ended. One reason is the time spent by many broadsheet journos reviewing where the Public Inquiry has brought us…| Lawyer Watch
I am now asking for jaw-tightening surgery this Christmas as, not content with media lawyers repeated claims that SLAPPs do not exist, or engaging in arguable naughtiness whilst denying that the Mi…| Lawyer Watch
In another context, I have been sent the Hillsborough Charter. The Government have signed up to it and it got me thinking about how lawyers help their clients when dealing with their crises (ir ind…| Lawyer Watch
Ever since Martin Mears, but particularly since the Legal Services Act, the Law Society has struggled. It’s a representative body with a rather low lowest common denominator to represent (just read…| Lawyer Watch
A group of GCs and others concerned about the way some companies create (or have) cultures that undermine the rule of law have led a piece of work responding to the FRC’s consultation on stre…| Lawyer Watch
A guest post by Graeme Johnston “Theories of justice can… be distinguished according to the relative weight they attach to procedures and substantive outcomes. Some theories are purely procedural i…| Lawyer Watch
Dan Neidle has caused quite a stir by naming and shaming a tax KC for advice on a fraudulent tax scheme. As I have often thought about when to name individuals associated with ethics problems, some…| Lawyer Watch
The SRA have published a very interesting document. A Thematic Review into In-House lawyers. You can read it here. And you can expect your heart to sing because the CEO of the SRA says the results …| Lawyer Watch
There’s been quite a brouhaha about David Pannick’s opinion with Jason Pobjoy for Boris Johnson. They argue that in considering whether Boris Johnson committed contempt as a result of misleading pa…| Lawyer Watch
