IBA Annual Conference Rome 2018
7 Oct - 12 Oct 2018
Session Room I, Level -1
Session information
Prosecuting unfounded litigation, tanking settlements and over-drafting contracts: combatting unethical lawyer behaviour
Wednesday 10 October (1115 - 1230)
Session Room I, Level -1
Committee(s)
Professional Ethics Committee
(Lead)
Closely Held Companies Committee
Description
Lawyers have a special asymmetry of information with their clients, which allows them to opt to offer solutions that may benefit the lawyer or the law firm more than the client, without the client ever having the opportunity to spot it. In this session, we will deal with some clear examples where the lawyer may not act in accordance with the clients’ interests. We will analyse the potential negative impact of this behaviour in a more general context (economists call it an externality), we will attempt to see how this behaviour is currently addressed and sanctioned, and we will discuss how to identify it and what are the best tools or measures to disincentive it. We will also deal with whether new business forms in the legal practice, like financial partners in law firms, third party funding, etc may have an effect in this context.
Session / Workshop Chair(s)
| Geraldine Clarke | Gleeson McGrath Baldwin Solicitors, Dublin, Ireland; PPID/SPPI Representative, LPD Council |
| Carlos Valls Martinez | Giró Martínez, Barcelona, Spain; Co-Chair, Professional Ethics Committee |
Speakers
| Hon Martin Daubney AM KC | Martin Daubney AM KC, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; Chair, Judges' Forum |
| Carlo Pavesio | Pavesio e Associati with Negri-Clementi, Turin, Italy; Treasurer, Closely Held Companies Committee |
| Myron Steele | Potter Anderson & Corroon, Wilmington, Delaware, USA; Judges' Forum Liaison Officer, Professional Ethics Committee |
| Carine Youssef Tohme | Tohme Law Firm, Beirut, Lebanon |