Ethics in Practice

The Use of Standardised Clients Methodology to Teach and Assess Professional Ethics and Communication Skills

Freda Grealy, Law Society of IrelandRory O’Boyle, Northumbria University

Setting & background

• The research site, part of intervention study ‘Certificate in Legal Ethics and Lawyering Skills’

• The Irish apprenticeship model of training lawyers

• Assessment key incentive for trainees – 20% of final mark

• Building on initial pilot study

Aims of the exercise

• To teach substantive topic – solicitors regulation &

complaints procedure • To highlight issues of professional responsibility & ethics

Traditionally taught in narrow defensive way Based on flawed assumption of inherent values Test moral courage & commitment Reinforce the values of the profession & The Law Society Heighten commitment to behaving professionally Get trainees to reflect on the professional identity ‘gap’;

fragmentation of the profession, low public perception of lawyers – trainees face challenges figuring out what it means to be a professional and their responsibility as solicitors to the wider community

Mind the gap! Ethics deficit

• Where does socialisation occur?The firm – the ‘five star’ training experience for

all?Communities of practice – modelling behaviour

• Motivation & mixed profile of trainees & they want the ‘hard law’ (& so do the large firms)

• Professional legal education – moral compass & compensate for unevenness

Mind the gap!

• Communication skills

• How do clients judge us?

• Value of Experience

Implementation

• Drafting the scenario – see ‘ethical traps‘

• Training of SC’s – methodology

• Amending the standard assessment sheets

• ‘Prepping’ the students

Ethical traps

Insert the table of ethical trips here

Ethical Traps Appropriate response (these responses are not intended to be formulaic)

LS are a bunch of meddlers, their fault

This tests the trainees ability to calmly point out that they have committed breaches to the professional code of conduct. They should point out that they did screw up and that the accountant wouldn’t be doing anything further about this if it wasn’t for the fact that there were irregularities. The Law society has a job to do – it’s each members of the professions responsibility to follow the rules.

Sad & Bad Tests the trainees ability to steer and direct the interview and get the information required. Obviously if they mention about putting the money in the office account this is a big no, no, so they should immediately ask about this.

Mental Health Issue Trainee should probe more about their mental health, med report?

Fraudster Indicate to the solicitor client that you can’t represent them unless he provides a full and honest account of the situation.Ethical issue.

Blackmail At this stage the trainee should really say ‘well of course I can’t act for you on that basis or on those conditions.’

Assessment Results

• The client interview role play

• Instantaneous formative feedback & debrief

• Client letter - reinforcing learning

• Overall performance – ‘communication’ performance & ‘ethics’ performance

Role play educational valueTrainee feedback • There is no better way to test someone’s knowledge of a topic

than through a practical situation such as this. It is all very well and good speaking and writing about ethics but as a solicitor, you want to be able to put this into practice. Role plays like this can often be awkward but I learnt a lot about my communication skills from this exercise.

• I found it very interesting to see how I could hold the line regarding ethical behaviour under pressure.

• ‘I found this immensely beneficial. I think there should be more focus on developing practical skills like this as opposed to examining students by way of written exam, giving very little time to think or even write.’

• ‘This was particularly helpful as it allowed me to experience a situation in which ethical issues might arise in practice, and in turn practise how might deal with them in a live context’

• ‘..useful because you had to think on your feet and that makes you remember it more.’

• ‘Very useful as you learn from practice and experience.’

Feedback on formative assessment aspect

• ‘I found this very useful. The fact that it was a real solicitor was very useful as I felt they had the background to give me a thorough assessment of my skills in all areas. I found the client behaviour challenged me and I felt that in future as a result I could be confident that I would be able to deal with a difficult client if the need arose. In addition I found that having the video to review was very useful in noting some mannerisms I had been unaware of and will seek to adjust in the future.’

• ‘This was a wonderful exercise which I thoroughly enjoyed! I thought that the feedback was invaluable and I think that every PPC2 student should have to partake in a role play of this kind.’

• ‘Really useful - I learnt a lot from this. It's very unlikely that as a solicitor I will get critical feedback from a client as to my composure/demeanour during the course of a consultation so it was great to engage with someone who was analysing me all the while’

Advantages of exercise

• Fun, enjoyable ‘‘..extremely useful and it

was the one exercise I found the most enjoyable.’• All took to the role – ‘willing to suspend disbelief’

setting is important, authenticity• ‘I was very happy that I had done it. These type of

exercises help build your confidence in yourself.’

Multilayered as it assesses – Communication and interviewing skills– Substantive knowledge – Ethical commitment & professionalism

Challenges

• Resource intensive and potentially expensive

• Number of different scenarios needed• How would you scale up? – there are

400 trainees on average• Very important that the SC’s are

solicitors for this scenario