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Our Legal Consultants are in compliance with the same Code of Conduct of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives
Code of Conduct
1. Uphold the rule of law and the impartial administration of justice.
You must:
1.1 Understand and comply with your primary and overriding duty to the court,
obey court orders and do nothing which would place you in contempt.
1.2 Not knowingly
or recklessly allow the court to be misled.
2. Maintain high standards of professional and personal conduct and justify public trust in you, your profession and the provision of legal services.
You must:
2.1 Advise your client of your professional status and that you are authorised
to practise and/or regulated by CILEx Regulation. Where your practice is regulated
by CILEx Regulation your business communications must confirm that.
2.2 Not engage
in any conduct that could undermine or affect adversely the confidence and trust
placed in you and your profession by your client, your employer, professional colleagues,
the public and others.
3. Behave with honesty and integrity.
You must:
3.1 Be honest in all your dealings
and in all financial matters.
3.2 Not intentionally mislead anyone you deal with.
3.3
Report to CILEx Regulation without delay any suspicion that another has breached
the Code unless bound by legal professional privilege or client confidentiality.
3.4
Report to the relevant authority any misconduct of another which falls to be regulated
by that authority unless bound by legal professional privilege or client confidentiality.
3.5
Not hold yourself out as having a qualification or professional status that you do
not possess.
4. Comply with your legal and regulatory obligations and deal with regulators and ombudsmen openly, promptly and co-operatively.
You must:
4.1 Understand and comply with the law and regulation applicable to you.
4.2
Take all practicable steps to ensure you can demonstrate that you have adhered to
the Core Principles and met the associated Outcomes.
4.3 Not place others in breach
of any regulatory requirement or rule of professional conduct.
4.4 Respond openly,
promptly and co-operatively to communications from your regulators and ombudsmen.
5. Act competently in the best interests of your client and respect client confidentiality.
You must:
5.1 Maintain a high level of competence in your legal work and ensure that
your legal knowledge is current and of sufficient depth for your role.
5.2 Identify
and address any deficiencies in your knowledge or training, or that of your staff,
so as to maintain a level of competence and knowledge appropriate to the work and
level of responsibility in which you or your staff are engaged.
5.3 Act only on matters
that are within your competence.
5.4 Not act for a client in an area of law where
you have insufficient knowledge or experience.
5.5 Act on your client’s instructions
except when to do so would involve a breach of the law or this Code.
5.6 Not act in
a matter where you do not have the right or are not authorised to act.
5.7 Adequately
explain and agree with your client the terms upon which your services are to be provided,
including the extent of the services, payment and the likely or anticipated cost,
outcome and timescale for the advice and services to be provided.
5.8 Provide prompt,
clear and accurate information and advice to your client, advise them openly and
honestly and keep them up to date with information they need about the work you are
performing for them within agreed timescales.
5.9 Inform your client fully as to your
complaints procedure including their right to refer a complaint to the Legal Ombudsman
or CILEx Regulation where appropriate.
5.10 Not charge a client for the cost of handling
a complaint.
5.11 Where your practice is regulated by CILEx Regulation, include in
the terms of business with your client, a statement that CILEx Regulation is your
regulator and may seek access to their papers and that, in these circumstances, you
will grant CILEx Regulation access unless the client objects.
5.12 Maintain confidentiality
in respect of your client’s affairs except where to do so would conflict with the
law or the Code or where your client explicitly authorises you to disclose confidential
information.
6. Treat everyone fairly and without prejudice.
You must:
6 Treat everyone fairly and
without prejudice.
You must:
6.1 Ensure your business or your role within it, your
business model, processes and practices adequately:
o assist consumers and clients
to access justice and the full range of legal services; and
o provide each client
with equal opportunity to secure a favourable outcome in their matter, irrespective
of their vulnerability or
susceptibility to discrimination.
7. Ensure your independence is not compromised.
You must:
7.1 Not act or continue to
act where there is a conflict of interest or a significant risk that a conflict may
arise.
7.2 Not act or continue to act for a client if you reasonably consider that
they are providing instructions under duress or undue influence, except where to
withdraw from acting would be detrimental to the client’s interests.
7.3 Where instructions
are provided by a third party, confirm them with your client to ensure they are your
client’s own instructions.
7.4 Ensure that none of your commercial interests or financial
arrangements adversely affect the independence of your advice or your ability to
act impartially.
8. Act effectively and in accordance with proper governance and sound financial and
risk management principles.
You must:
8.1 Maintain proper standards of work and keep
accurate records. In matters such as communications with clients, professional colleagues
and others, your records should be contemporaneous and in any event must be made
as soon as practicable thereafter.
8.2 Ensure that you properly supervise tasks that
you have asked others to perform on your behalf, recognising that you remain accountable
for any such work.
8.3 Ensure that anyone you ask to perform work on your behalf is
appropriately qualified and authorised to perform it.
8.4 Ensure that clients’ matters
are supervised and regularly checked by those with sufficient competence and experience
to assess the quality of the work and to ensure issues identified are addressed.
8.5
Adhere to effective management, oversight and reporting structures.
8.6 Comply with
effective procedures to ensure compliance with your legal and regulatory obligations.
9. Protect client money and assets.
You must:
9.1 Identify, assess, manage and promptly
address risks to money and assets entrusted to you by clients and others.
9.2 Effectively
monitor the financial stability of your business or your role within it, so as to
protect client money and assets from risks associated with the financial position
of your business or the business of your employer.
