A survey of 400 in-house lawyers, carried out by law professors from Exeter University and University College London in collaboration with flexible legal services provider Lawyers on Demand, has revealed that a third of in-house lawyers are sometimes placed in difficult moral positions. The research found that:
- 32% were asked ‘to advise or assist on things that made them uncomfortable ethically’
- 45% were asked to advise on proposed company action which was ethically debatable
- In-house lawyers involved in the survey were ‘hazy (sometimes very hazy)’ on the content of the SRA handbook and their professional obligations
- Eight out of 10 agreed their legal department had been criticised for inhibiting or slowing commercial decisions.
Read more about the study or download the report here.