Six Ethics Resources from the Law Society
As a young lawyer, you will likely come across ethical issues from time to time in the course of your practice. Do not fear. Help is at hand as the Law Society offers a suite of professional ethics resources for members. Some of these resources are available at the click of a mouse, so do make full use of them to resolve your ethical issue quickly and efficiently.
1. Law Society’s Practice Directions and Guidance Notes
You can find all the practice directions and guidance notes issued by the Law Society to date on the Ethics & Professional Responsibility webpage of the Law Society’s website.
They are conveniently categorised under 10 broad headings:
- Conduct of Proceedings
- Law Society
- Legal Practitioner’s Practice: Operational Matters
- Legal Practitioner’s Practice Areas
- Legal Practitioner’s Remuneration
- Publicity and Media Related Matters
- Relationship and Dealings with Clients
- Relationship between Legal Practitioners
- Relationship with Third Parties
- Third-Party Funding
A consolidated PDF version of all the Law Society’s Practice Directions and Guidance Notes (as at 9 June 2023) is also available for download.
2. Ethics Resources webpage
Our Ethics Resources webpage contains a wide range of professional ethics resources that the Law Society has published over the years. They include the Conflicts of Interest Toolkit, Professional Ethics Digests and Singapore Law Gazette articles on professional ethics (including conflicts of interest, court etiquette and professional courtesy). Please note that access to some resources requires a Members’ Library login.
3. The Art of Family Lawyering (2019 Special Edition)
Are you intending to be a family law practitioner? Start off on the right foot with the Law Society’s The Art of Family Lawyering (2019 Special Edition) (AOFL). The AOFL contains 52 best practice tips and numerous practical pointers on how to buttress constructive problem solving, conciliation and the prevention of conflict of interest.
Spanning around 100 pages, the AOFL aims to help family law practitioners adopt a constructive and conciliatory approach to the resolution of family proceedings while having regard to the need to take a child-centric approach towards resolving issues that involve or relate to children.
The AOFL is available for purchase at the Law Society (28 Maxwell Road, #01-03 Maxwell Chambers Suites) at $5.40 (inclusive of 8% GST).
4. Disciplinary Tribunal Reports
Keep up to date with Disciplinary Tribunal (DT) decisions by reviewing summaries of the DT’s findings and determination at the Law Gazette website.
5. Member Assistance and Care Helpline (MACH)
Need a listening ear on your ethical problem? The Law Society’s confidential and one-stop referral service hotline provides members with a forum to turn to for help or assistance when faced with issues at work or problems which may affect work. Members may call to speak confidentially to the Law Society at 6530 0213. Calls are generally accepted from 9am to 5pm, Monday through Friday.
6. Ethical guidance from the Advisory Committee
You can also seek written guidance on a professional ethics issue from the Advisory Committee of the Professional Conduct Council. The guidelines for submitting a request to the Advisory Committee for ethical guidance are set out in Part C of Practice Direction 2.1.3 (Enquiries to Relevant Committee). Do ensure that you comply with these guidelines before you write in to the Advisory Committee Secretariat at [email protected].
