§ discipline

No taking unfair advantage integrity

The lawyer must not abuse their position to take unfair advantage of clients or others, including by exploiting another's obvious error or by undue influence.

424 cases 69% strike-off avg suspension 11.4 mo avg fine 62,530 251 with dishonesty finding

How the codes express this duty

E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code CCS 1.2 strong 342 cases
1.2 You do not abuse your position by taking unfair advantage of clients or others.

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

E&W Barristers BSB Handbook gC25.7; gC26 partial 15 cases
gC25 ... Other conduct which is likely to be treated as a breach of CD3 and/or CD5 includes (but is not limited to): ... .7 abuse of your professional position. gC26 ... referring to your status as a barrister ... in a context where it is irrelevant, such as in a private dispute, may well constitute abuse of your professional position and thus involve a breach of CD3 and/or CD5.

BSB Handbook · current · archived copy · official source ↗

Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 R.11.2 strong
An attorney-at-law shall not take unfair advantage of anyone, either for the client's benefit or for the benefit of the attorney-at-law.

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

AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules Rule 30.1 strong 1 case
A solicitor must not take unfair advantage of the obvious error of another solicitor or other person, if to do so would obtain for a client a benefit which has no supportable foundation in law or fact.

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

AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules rr28,46 partial 1 case
A barrister must alert the opponent and if necessary inform the court if any express concession made in the course of a trial ... is to the knowledge of the barrister contrary to the true position and is believed by the barrister to have been made by mistake. ... A barrister must not in any dealings with a client exercise any undue influence intended to dispose the client to benefit the barrister in excess of the barrister's fair remuneration.

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

IE Solicitors Law Society Guide Ch1 — Core values: Integrity; Ch6 — Professional standard of conduct strong
Solicitors are in a position of trust in society, and it is of the utmost importance that they do not take unfair advantage of clients or others... A solicitor should not use their position to take unfair advantage either for themselves or for any other person.

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

IE Barristers Bar Code of Conduct no clear equivalent
JM Attorneys Canons of Professional Ethics no clear equivalent
JE Lawyers Law Society of Jersey Code R.10.2 strong
Members must not take unfair advantage of anyone, either for the client's benefit or for their own benefit.

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

ON Lawyers LSO Rules of Prof. Conduct r 7.2-2 strong
A lawyer shall avoid sharp practice and shall not take advantage of or act without fair warning upon slips, irregularities, or mistakes on the part of other legal practitioners not going to the merits or involving the sacrifice of a client's rights.

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

BC Lawyers BC Code r 7.2-2 strong 3 cases
A lawyer must avoid sharp practice and must not take advantage of or act without fair warning upon slips, irregularities or mistakes on the part of other lawyers not going to the merits or involving the sacrifice of a client's rights.

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

NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules r 2.7 / r 5.1 partial
A lawyer must not threaten, expressly or by implication, to make any accusation against a person or to disclose something about any person for any improper purpose. ... The relationship between lawyer and client is one of confidence and trust that must never be abused.

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

SCO Solicitors LSS Standards of Conduct B1.2 partial 14 cases
You must be trustworthy and act honestly at all times so that your personal integrity is beyond question.

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

SG Lawyers Professional Conduct Rules 2015 r 8 (Conduct in relation to other persons) partial
8 Conduct in relation to other persons

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

HK Solicitors Solicitors' Guide Principle 13.01 / Principle 5.15 strong
nor must he use his position as a solicitor to take unfair advantage either for himself or another person. ... A solicitor must not take advantage of the age, inexperience, ill health, lack of education or business experience of his client.

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

HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct footnote 2 (para 4.1) partial
when a barrister finds himself involved in a personal dispute, he should not seek to use his status as a barrister in an attempt to gain an advantage over, or put pressure on, the other party but should, for instance, avoid the use of the title of barrister in corresponding or otherwise dealing with the other party to the dispute.

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

Cases dealing with this duty

Clear

424 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.