What is an ethical lawyer?
Should an ethical lawyer steer clear of certain clients on public interest grounds?  And should the regulator police the profession’s choice of client?
By BSB Director General Mark Neale
These questions – or questions very like them – are currently much debated.
So how would I personally answer them?
A good starting point is to state clearly that lawyers generally, and barristers in particular, are not there just to do their clients’ bidding, right or wrong.
It is a fundamental professional ethic that a barrister’s duty to the administration of justice trumps his or her duty to any client.  A barrister must also act with honesty, integrity and independence. So a barrister must not, in advocating a client’s case, do anything to mislead the Court or state anything...