This course provides a practical and grounded exploration of professional ethics in the context of law firms, focusing on how ethical issues arise in day-to-day practice and how they should be identified, analysed, and addressed.

Rather than revisiting abstract ethical theory, the session centres on common pressure points faced by small firms, including conflicts of interest, confidentiality and legal professional privilege, client capacity and vulnerability, supervision challenges, fee and funding pressures, and the tension between commercial survival and professional obligations.

Participants will be introduced to a structured approach to ethical decision-making that supports sound judgement, defensible outcomes, and regulatory compliance. The course also considers the role of firm culture, supervision, and escalation in preventing ethical drift, and how ethical issues should be recorded, reviewed, and managed in line with SRA expectations.