‘Key psychological issue’
A leading academic has warned junior lawyers that working for a law firm with conflicting ethical values could harm their health.
UCL’s professor Stephen Mayson described the alignment of moral values between law firms and their lawyers as “a key psychological issue” and warns that misalignment can heighten wellbeing challenges, potentially leading to “serious health problems” for juniors.
“If you are a junior lawyer with a sense of professional identity that doesn’t sit easily with what is happening in a firm — let alone the profession — you need to be able to understand why that lack of alignment exists,” said Mayson.
The top prof explained that this disconnect could arise from several reasons: a lack of understanding on the lawyer’s part regarding the firm’s position, the firm’s failure to recognise or consider the lawyer’s perspective, or a deliberate choice by the firm to adopt a differing stance — often influenced by economic or market priorities — which could leave the lawyer feeling uneasy.
Speaking at a webinar hosted by the UCL Centre for Ethics and Law, Mayson argued that the real issue lies in lawyers undertaking work that is “reprehensible in the eyes of the wider public”, rather than illegal, when asked about law firms representing fossil fuel companies.
That said, the professor cautioned juniors against attempting to impose their own views on the actions of others.
“The public interest is a balancing act,” he continued. “There are some red lines that lawyers shouldn’t cross, but there’s an awfully large grey area where we’ve got these moral compass issues engaged and there is no definitive answer. We must reach our own view or what is acceptable or what isn’t and be comfortable with that.”
The webinar followed the release of Mayson’s report, Legal Services Regulation: The ‘Meaning of the Public Interest’, which argues that lawyers must be ready to face scrutiny when claiming to act in the public interest, citing cases like the Post Office Horizon and Harvey Weinstein scandals to illustrate this.
At the time, Legal Cheek reported that Mayson calls for increased accountability, stressing that lawyers should be ready to “articulate and record a public interest justification for their decisions and actions”.
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