The Rise of the Jedi Lawyer
By: Shane Budden
Tags: Ethics, Solicitor, Lawyers, Legal, Professional Development

Remember, the Ethics will be with you — always

Image: Artur Tumasjan

In the Star Wars universe, the Jedi are warrior-wizards and the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy; in the legal world, the Jedi are Ethics Solicitors, who guard the integrity of the legal profession itself. At least, that’s what we tell ourselves…

In truth there is something of the Jedi to all solicitors, or at least there should be. As officers of the court we are sworn to serve the rule of law, the administration of justice and basically to stand between order and chaos; surely that makes us Jedi by any definition?

Just as the Jedi in Star Wars are tempted by the Dark Side, so are solicitors tempted, but not so much by the Dark Side; most of us can avoid that pretty easily.

What can tempt us is the desire to plunge in and start following a client’s instructions before pondering whether we should do what they ask. To be so keen on our client’s best interests that we can ignore the bigger picture — these are our temptations, being so blinded by good intentions that we run off the rails.

So how to avoid our own Dark Side, the Darth Vaders that hide in the grey areas of the legal world? How to ensure that our ethical compass remains orientated towards to the Light Side, and that the Force stays with us?

Thankfully, Queensland Law Society has the guidance you need, at Symposium 2020.

In our Ethics in action: The foundation of a sustainable practice session, we will cover ways to practically apply ethical duties and concepts in such a way as to create a thriving practice and still stay on the Light Side. Your good scribe will take you through scenarios highlighting the way to use ethical behaviour as both a guiding light and a marketing advantage.

From Hyper-space to Cyber-space, and the dangers that lie therein, cyber-Jedis David Bowles and Nicole Murdoch, in our Managing cyber risk for busy professionals session, will take practitioners through the process of identifying the primary risks and most vulnerable systems, and where to begin in mitigating those risks.

While the cyber-world can be scary, attaining a level of competence in this area is a part of the ethical duty of competence, and one which will be more of a focus as the world moves on-line; solicitors cannot afford to fall behind, and this session is the best way to avoid that.

Of course, the best way to ensure an ethical (and positive) work environment is to get the culture right in the first place. In the Creating cultural change in the legal profession session, Queensland Law Society CEO Rolf Moses and Legal Services Commissioner Megan Mahon will explore ways of driving cultural change in our profession, towards an ethical, inclusive and harmonious reality. The session will be chaired by Rebecca Niebler, Organisational Culture and Support Officer, QLS Ethics and Practice Centre. Rebecca is a Psychologist and cultural change expert and will bring an illuminating perspective to the session.

Unlike Star Wars, which happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, our profession’s ethical and cultural challenges are happening right here and right now; we cannot afford to be unprepared for them. Like The Force, ethics both control your actions and obey your commends; come along to Symposium 2020 and learn how to use them properly.

May the Ethics be with you…