legal ethics handbook - Nova Scotia Barristers' Society
legal ethics handbook - Nova Scotia Barristers' Society
legal ethics handbook - Nova Scotia Barristers' Society
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Chapter 1 – Integrity<br />
LEGAL ETHICS HANDBOOK<br />
Rule<br />
A lawyer has a duty to discharge with integrity 1<br />
(a) every duty the lawyer owes to<br />
(i) a client,<br />
(ii) another lawyer,<br />
(iii) a court,<br />
(iv) the profession, or<br />
(v) the general public; and<br />
(b) every duty the lawyer has to uphold justice and the administration of justice. 2<br />
Guiding Principles<br />
Integrity underlies each Rule of this Handbook. Every person who practices law must therefore have integrity.<br />
Commentary<br />
The consequences of lack of integrity<br />
1.1 If a client is in doubt about his or her lawyer's trustworthiness, the essential element of the lawyer-client<br />
relationship is missing. If personal integrity is lacking, a lawyer's value to the client and ultimately the lawyer's<br />
reputation inside and outside the <strong>legal</strong> profession will be destroyed, competence notwithstanding. 3<br />
Conduct outside the practice of law<br />
1.2 Dishonourable or questionable conduct of a lawyer in either private life or professional practice reflects<br />
adversely on the lawyer, the integrity of the profession, the <strong>legal</strong> system and the administration of justice as a<br />
whole. 4<br />
1.3 If the conduct of a lawyer is such that a client's knowledge of it would likely impair the client's trust in the<br />
lawyer as a professional adviser, the Complaints Investigation Committee or a hearing panel is justified in<br />
considering disciplinary action against the lawyer. 5<br />
Extra-professional activities<br />
1.4 Generally speaking, however, the Complaints Investigation Committee or a hearing panel will not be<br />
concerned with purely private or extra-professional activities of a lawyer that do not bring into question the<br />
integrity of the <strong>legal</strong> profession or the lawyer's professional integrity or competence.<br />
Notes<br />
1. O.E.D.: "Integrity ... soundness of moral principle; the character of uncorrupted virtue, esp. in relation to truth<br />
and fair dealing, uprightness, honesty, sincerity, candor.'' See also B.G. Smith, Professional Conduct for<br />
Canadian Lawyers (Toronto: Butterworths, 1989) , at 4, " ... the term 'integrity' perforce includes honesty and<br />
trustworthiness...."<br />
2. "The rules of professional conduct enforced in various countries ... uniformly place the main emphasis upon the<br />
essential need for integrity and, thereafter, upon the duties owed by a lawyer to his client, to the Court, to other<br />
members of the <strong>legal</strong> profession and to the public at large.'' Lund, at 18.<br />
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