This week I gave the annual City of London Law Society lecture in Gray's Inn. Chaired by Sir Peter Gross and followed by discussants, Stephen Kenny KC and Julie Norris of Kingsley Napley.
Reading this gave me goosebumps because it resonated so strongly with me, as a former litigation lawyer, as a business owner and now studying Philosophy and AI. I look back at my legal career and cannot remember a time when ethics were discussed. In business it became increasingly apparent to me that when the boardroom door opens, humanity (and, with it, often ethics) leaves. It seems that ‘in business’ it’s somehow nowadays acceptable to, as you say, steamroller and Midas (and more) - in fact, it’s almost expected. I think it leaves shame in its wake, which doesn’t help. Looking currently at ethical frameworks for the healthy deployment and development of AI, I see an urgent need for true dialogue involving the different stakeholders. And there seems to be a similar need here.
Thank you for bringing this timely and salutary lesson to the fore.
Yes, all of this. I am a retired solicitor (qual 1989) who watched every witness in the PO enquiry and was horrified (but sadly not surprised) by the behaviour of external, in-house solicitors and independent counsel. I agree with everything you say Richard, as lawyers we cannot operate in a moral vacuum. It's shouldn't come down to 'is it legal' but 'is it right?' We know what's right and what's wrong, we all (lawyers and non-lawyers alike) deal with those questions everyday. Our ethical framework has become completely upended with lawyers too often providing thin justifications for frankly immoral practices on the part of clients operating in the 'free' market. I despair but then I read things like this and I have hope. I also look forward to the PO enquiry report and have hope that we can re-set. I also agree it's not about new rules and regulations. It's about a shift in understanding our duty to move towards the right thing, not away from it.
Spot on Richard‼️The rule of law, transparency, professional misconduct & legal accountability have all veered, too far off course!! And spare a thought for the current situ within Northern Ireland, where it is a much bigger challenge than ethnics ! WE have NO independent Regulation of barristers & KCs! We have NO bar standards board & NO legal ombudsman! We have NO direct access to barristers & No equality act! We do, however, have an even increasing number of ‘forced’ self litigants trying to address deeply flawed solicitors instructions, broken court procedural rules, deliberate breaches of Article 6 etc & a very broken road to any justice! Filing papers & TECH abuse is a MAJOR PROBLEM & area of control. Let the NI systemic failings, be warning to other countries who dare to dilute transparency & accountability! As the post office scandal has already confirmed, large profits can be made from innocent victims! We should all be thankful to the post office sub-masters who refused to be silenced and have now exposed the truth. The real heroes of ‘ethnics’ belong to the individuals, lawyers & MPs who are still prepared to fight for the wronged!! A reset is most definitely required -so keep up the great research & fight for justice!
One weakness is confirmation bias. So much less work when what you believe is confirmed - so no further enquiries. It means you are at mercy of players who want their truth. Technically you were all bamboozled. So naive when the generation in key positions now (fewer baby boomers) now should be IT savvy or have the intelligence to know enough or find out or suspect something but this means more work.
Reading this gave me goosebumps because it resonated so strongly with me, as a former litigation lawyer, as a business owner and now studying Philosophy and AI. I look back at my legal career and cannot remember a time when ethics were discussed. In business it became increasingly apparent to me that when the boardroom door opens, humanity (and, with it, often ethics) leaves. It seems that ‘in business’ it’s somehow nowadays acceptable to, as you say, steamroller and Midas (and more) - in fact, it’s almost expected. I think it leaves shame in its wake, which doesn’t help. Looking currently at ethical frameworks for the healthy deployment and development of AI, I see an urgent need for true dialogue involving the different stakeholders. And there seems to be a similar need here.
Thank you for bringing this timely and salutary lesson to the fore.
Yes, all of this. I am a retired solicitor (qual 1989) who watched every witness in the PO enquiry and was horrified (but sadly not surprised) by the behaviour of external, in-house solicitors and independent counsel. I agree with everything you say Richard, as lawyers we cannot operate in a moral vacuum. It's shouldn't come down to 'is it legal' but 'is it right?' We know what's right and what's wrong, we all (lawyers and non-lawyers alike) deal with those questions everyday. Our ethical framework has become completely upended with lawyers too often providing thin justifications for frankly immoral practices on the part of clients operating in the 'free' market. I despair but then I read things like this and I have hope. I also look forward to the PO enquiry report and have hope that we can re-set. I also agree it's not about new rules and regulations. It's about a shift in understanding our duty to move towards the right thing, not away from it.
Hey, great read as always. Such a needed ethical reboot, no?
Spot on Richard‼️The rule of law, transparency, professional misconduct & legal accountability have all veered, too far off course!! And spare a thought for the current situ within Northern Ireland, where it is a much bigger challenge than ethnics ! WE have NO independent Regulation of barristers & KCs! We have NO bar standards board & NO legal ombudsman! We have NO direct access to barristers & No equality act! We do, however, have an even increasing number of ‘forced’ self litigants trying to address deeply flawed solicitors instructions, broken court procedural rules, deliberate breaches of Article 6 etc & a very broken road to any justice! Filing papers & TECH abuse is a MAJOR PROBLEM & area of control. Let the NI systemic failings, be warning to other countries who dare to dilute transparency & accountability! As the post office scandal has already confirmed, large profits can be made from innocent victims! We should all be thankful to the post office sub-masters who refused to be silenced and have now exposed the truth. The real heroes of ‘ethnics’ belong to the individuals, lawyers & MPs who are still prepared to fight for the wronged!! A reset is most definitely required -so keep up the great research & fight for justice!
One weakness is confirmation bias. So much less work when what you believe is confirmed - so no further enquiries. It means you are at mercy of players who want their truth. Technically you were all bamboozled. So naive when the generation in key positions now (fewer baby boomers) now should be IT savvy or have the intelligence to know enough or find out or suspect something but this means more work.
A reset absolutely yes, and some accountability and reparation for the past wrongs would be a good start
Ethics have been argued since Aristotle but somone stole money from innocent sub-postmasters/mistresses. Machines don't have money, so who does?