§ discipline

Avoid wasting the court's time court

The lawyer must take reasonable steps to conduct the case efficiently and avoid unnecessary expense and waste of the court's time.

48 cases 63% strike-off avg suspension 12.0 mo avg fine 12,500 21 with dishonesty finding

How the codes express this duty

E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code CCS 2.6 strong 31 cases
2.6 You do not waste the court's time.

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

E&W Barristers BSB Handbook rC3.3 strong 8 cases
rC3.3 you must take reasonable steps to avoid wasting the court's time;

BSB Handbook · current · archived copy · official source ↗

Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 R.2.1(c) strong
take reasonable steps to avoid wasting the Court's time

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

AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules Rule 17.2.2 partial 1 case
A solicitor does not breach the solicitor's duty to the client... simply by choosing... to exercise the forensic judgments called for during the case so as to: ... 17.2.2 present the client's case as quickly and simply as may be consistent with its robust advancement.

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

AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules r57 strong
A barrister must seek to ensure that work which the barrister is briefed to do in relation to a case is done so as to: (a) confine the case to identified issues which are genuinely in dispute; ... (e) occupy as short a time in court as is reasonably necessary to advance and protect the client's interests which are at stake in the case.

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

IE Solicitors Law Society Guide Ch5 — General (relationship with the court) partial
A solicitor should avoid improper or abusive litigation, predatory litigation, abuse of process, taking unfair advantage, misleading the court, and conducting frivolous and/or vexatious cases.

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

IE Barristers Bar Code of Conduct Rule 5.20 strong
Barristers must in every case use their best endeavours to avoid unnecessary expense and waste of the Court's time. They should, (subject to Rule 5.21), when asked, inform the Court of the probable length of the case and also subsequently inform the Court of any developments which significantly affect the information already provided.

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

JM Attorneys Canons of Professional Ethics Canon V(q) partial 1 case
An Attorney shall be punctual in attendance before the Courts and concise and direct in the trial and disposition of causes.

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

JE Lawyers Law Society of Jersey Code R.3.1 c) strong
Members must... c) take reasonable steps to avoid wasting the court's time.

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

ON Lawyers LSO Rules of Prof. Conduct r 5.1-1 commentary [8] strong
In civil proceedings, a lawyer should avoid and discourage the client from resorting to frivolous or vexatious objections, attempts to gain advantage from slips or oversights not going to the merits or tactics that will merely delay or harass the other side. Such practices can readily bring the administration of justice and the legal profession into disrepute.

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

BC Lawyers BC Code r 5.1-1, commentary [8] partial
In civil proceedings, a lawyer should avoid and discourage the client from resorting to frivolous or vexatious objections, attempts to gain advantage from slips or oversights not going to the merits or tactics that will merely delay or harass the other side.

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

NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules r 3 / r 13.2 partial
In providing regulated services to a client, a lawyer must always act competently and in a timely manner consistent with the terms of the retainer and the duty to take reasonable care. ... A lawyer must not act in a way that undermines the processes of the court or the dignity of the judiciary.

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

SCO Solicitors LSS Standards of Conduct no clear equivalent
SG Lawyers Professional Conduct Rules 2015 r 9 (Conduct of proceedings) partial
9 Conduct of proceedings

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

HK Solicitors Solicitors' Guide Principle 10.18 partial
A solicitor must inform his client if a proposed or continuing action has no prospect of success as a matter of law.

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

HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct para 10.36 strong
A practising barrister must in every case use his best endeavours to avoid unnecessary expense and waste of the Court's time.

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

Cases dealing with this duty

Clear

48 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.