§ discipline

Good faith and courtesy to colleagues profession

The lawyer must act in good faith and with courtesy toward other practitioners, their staff and third parties, and must not write offensive communications or take unfair advantage of professional trust.

305 cases 51% strike-off avg suspension 11.5 mo avg fine 163,957 151 with dishonesty finding

How the codes express this duty

E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code CCS 1.5 partial 177 cases
1.5 You treat colleagues fairly and with respect. You do not bully or harass them or discriminate unfairly against them. If you are a manager you challenge behaviour that does not meet this standard.

SRA Code of Conduct for Solicitors, RELs and RFLs · 2019 · archived copy · official source ↗

E&W Barristers BSB Handbook gC24; gC25.4 partial 43 cases
gC24 In addition to the above, where the other side is legally represented and you are conducting correspondence in respect of the particular matter, you are expected to correspond at all times with that other party's legal representative – otherwise you may be regarded as breaching CD3 or Rule C9. gC25 Other conduct which is likely to be treated as a breach of CD3 and/or CD5 includes (but is not limited to): ... .4 seriously offensive or discreditable conduct towards third parties;

BSB Handbook · current · archived copy · official source ↗

Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 R.11.1 strong
An attorney-at-law shall — (a) act towards another attorney-at-law in good faith subject to the duty to the client and the overriding duty to the Court; and (b) behave with good manners and courtesy towards other attorneys-at-law and third parties.

Cayman Islands Legal Services Code of Professional Conduct · 2026 · archived copy

AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules Rules 4.1.2; 34.1.3 partial 11 cases
4.1.2 be honest and courteous in all dealings in the course of legal practice. 34.1 A solicitor must not in any action or communication associated with representing a client:... 34.1.3 use tactics that go beyond legitimate advocacy and which are primarily designed to embarrass or frustrate another person.

Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules · 2015 (June 2026 compilation) · archived copy · official source ↗

AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules rr5(d),12(a) partial 2 cases
barristers owe duties to the courts, to their clients and to their barrister and solicitor colleagues ... A barrister must not engage in conduct which is: (a) dishonest or otherwise discreditable to a barrister.

Legal Profession Uniform Conduct (Barristers) Rules · 2015 (as amended 14 May 2025) · archived copy · official source ↗

IE Solicitors Law Society Guide Ch7 — Professional standard of conduct: General strong
A solicitor should be honest in all their dealings with other solicitors and act towards them with frankness and good faith, consistent with their overriding duty to the client... A solicitor should maintain personal integrity and practice good manners and courtesy towards other members of the profession or their staff.

Solicitor's Guide to Professional Conduct (Law Society of Ireland) · 4th ed. (2022) · archived copy · official source ↗

IE Barristers Bar Code of Conduct Rule 7.1; Rule 8.5 strong
It is the duty of Barristers to treat each of their colleagues with civility and respect.

Code of Conduct for the Bar of Ireland · 2024 · archived copy · official source ↗

JM Attorneys Canons of Professional Ethics Canon VI; Canon VI(a); Canon VI(b) strong 52 cases
AN ATTORNEY HAS A DUTY TO MAINTAIN A PROPER PROFESSIONAL ATTITUDE TOWARDS HIS FELLOW ATTORNEYS ... (a) An Attorney's conduct towards his fellow Attorneys shall be characterized by courtesy and good faith and he shall not permit ill-feeling between clients to affect his relationship with his fellow Attorneys or his demeanour towards the opposing party.

Legal Profession (Canons of Professional Ethics) Rules · 1978 (principal) · archived copy · official source ↗

JE Lawyers Law Society of Jersey Code R.10.1 strong
Members must: a) act towards other members and their employees in good faith subject to their duty to the client and the overriding duty to the court; b) behave with good manners and courtesy towards other members, their employees and third parties even though there may be matters of bitter contention between clients; c) not write offensive letters to other members, their employees or third parties; d) not use social media or other forms of communication improperly.

Law Society of Jersey Code of Conduct · 1 January 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗

ON Lawyers LSO Rules of Prof. Conduct r 7.2-1 strong
A lawyer shall be courteous, civil, and act in good faith with all persons with whom the lawyer has dealings in the course of their practice.

Law Society of Ontario — Rules of Professional Conduct · current · archived copy · official source ↗

BC Lawyers BC Code r 7.2-1 strong 12 cases
A lawyer must be courteous and civil and act in good faith with all persons with whom the lawyer has dealings in the course of his or her practice.

Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia (BC Code) · 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗

NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules r 10.1 / r 12 strong
A lawyer must, when acting in a professional capacity, treat all persons with respect and courtesy. ... A lawyer must, when acting in a professional capacity, conduct dealings with others, including self-represented persons, with integrity, respect, and courtesy.

Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008 · SR 2008/214 · archived copy · official source ↗

SCO Solicitors LSS Standards of Conduct B1.14 strong 8 cases
You must act with other regulated persons in a manner consistent with persons having mutual trust and confidence in each other.

Law Society of Scotland — Practice Rules 2011, Rule B1 (Standards of Conduct) · 2011 · archived copy · official source ↗

SG Lawyers Professional Conduct Rules 2015 r 4(f) strong
A legal practitioner must be fair and courteous towards every person in respect of the legal practitioner’s professional conduct.

Legal Profession (Professional Conduct) Rules 2015 · 2015 · archived copy · official source ↗

HK Solicitors Solicitors' Guide Principle 11.01 strong
A solicitor must act towards other solicitors with frankness and good faith consistent with his overriding duty to his client. ... A solicitor must not write offensive letters to other members of the profession, whatever the degree of bad feeling existing between the respective clients.

Hong Kong Solicitors' Guide to Professional Conduct (Volume 1) · current · archived copy · official source ↗

HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct para 10.6 strong
A practising barrister must in all his professional activities be courteous and civil, and must act in good faith with all those with whom he has professional dealings. He should not send correspondence to or otherwise communicate with any person in a manner that is abusive, offensive or otherwise inconsistent with the proper tone of a professional correspondence or communication.

Code of Conduct of the Bar of the Hong Kong SAR · 2018 · archived copy · official source ↗

Cases dealing with this duty

Clear

305 decisions · link basis: found breached = a tribunal finding; rule cited = the mapped provision is cited in the decision; text match = high-precision text pattern

Duty classification does not yet cover every jurisdiction (Ontario, New Zealand and Singapore decisions are indexed but not yet duty-classified), so counts here understate those corpora.