The duty in context
No bribery or improper gifts integrity
The lawyer must ensure any gift or benefit complies with bribery, corruption and gift rules and must not give anything of value to a judge, juror or tribunal official in a pending matter.
How the codes express this duty
E&W Solicitors SRA Principles & Code CCS 2.3; Principle 2 partial 855 cases
2.3 You do not provide or offer to provide any benefit to witnesses dependent upon the nature of their evidence or the outcome of the case. 1.2 in a way that upholds public trust and confidence in the solicitors' profession and in legal services provided by authorised persons.
SRA Principles · 2023 · archived copy · official source ↗
E&W Barristers BSB Handbook gC18; gC19; gC30.2 partial 1 case
gC18 The following may reasonably be seen as compromising your independence in breach of Rule 8 ... .1 offering, promising or giving: .a any commission or referral fee ... or .b a gift (apart from items of modest value), to any client, professional client or other intermediary; gC30 ... .2 whether in a private or publicly funded case, a referral fee to which the client has not consented may constitute a bribe and therefore a criminal offence under the Bribery Act 2010;
BSB Handbook · current · archived copy · official source ↗
Cayman Islands Legal Services Code 2026 R.7.9; R.10.1 strong
An attorney-at-law shall ensure that any gratuitous benefit received from a client, whether monetary or non-monetary, is compliant with applicable legislation on bribery and corruption, and any other regulation applicable to attorneys-at-law and recognised law entities in respect of gifts.
Cayman Islands Legal Services Code of Professional Conduct · 2026 · archived copy
AU Solicitors Solicitors' Conduct Rules no clear equivalent
AU Barristers Uniform Barristers Rules r45 partial 7 cases
A barrister may not give a commission or gift to any person by reason of or in connection with the introduction of professional work by that person to the barrister.
Legal Profession Uniform Conduct (Barristers) Rules · 2015 (as amended 14 May 2025) · archived copy · official source ↗
IE Solicitors Law Society Guide Ch3 — Prohibition on payments to clients; Ch6 — Inducements partial
A solicitor should not, directly, or indirectly, make or offer to make any payment to or on behalf of any person as an inducement to obtain or retain instructions... A solicitor must not encourage or offer inducements to any third party with a view to obtaining instructions from any 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 Canon V(h) strong
An Attorney shall not give, lend or promise anything of value to a Judge, juror or official of a tribunal before which there is a pending matter in which he is engaged.
Legal Profession (Canons of Professional Ethics) Rules · 1978 (principal) · archived copy · official source ↗
JE Lawyers Law Society of Jersey Code R.6.9 partial
This Rule applies alongside, and is without prejudice to, applicable legislation on bribery and corruption, and the requirement on a firm to keep a register of gifts.
Law Society of Jersey Code of Conduct · 1 January 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗
ON Lawyers LSO Rules of Prof. Conduct r 5.1-2(d) partial
When acting as an advocate, a lawyer shall not ... endeavour or allow anyone else to endeavour, directly or indirectly, to influence the decision or action of a tribunal or any of its officials in any case or matter by any means other than open persuasion as an advocate
Law Society of Ontario — Rules of Professional Conduct · current · archived copy · official source ↗
BC Lawyers BC Code r 5.1-2(d) partial 1 case
When acting as an advocate, a lawyer must not: ... (d) endeavour or allow anyone else to endeavour, directly or indirectly, to influence the decision or action of a tribunal or any of its officials in any case or matter by any means other than open persuasion as an advocate;
Code of Professional Conduct for British Columbia (BC Code) · 2017 · archived copy · official source ↗
NZ Lawyers Conduct & Client Care Rules r 5.9 partial
A lawyer must not directly or indirectly offer to, or receive from, a third party any reward or inducement in respect of any advice given, referrals made, products or services purchased, or any work done for a client.
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 no clear equivalent
HK Solicitors Solicitors' Guide no clear equivalent
HK Barristers Bar Code of Conduct para 10.10 partial
A practising barrister must not give a commission or present or make any payment (other than a payment for practice promotion permitted by this Code) to any person for the purposes of procuring professional instructions or rewarding the giving or introduction of professional instructions.
Code of Conduct of the Bar of the Hong Kong SAR · 2018 · archived copy · official source ↗
Cases dealing with this duty
872 decisions · link basis: found breached = a tribunal finding; rule cited = the mapped provision is cited in the decision; text match = high-precision text pattern
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Ashley Simon Hurst
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, SRA Principles 2019
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Stephen Brian Simmons
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Dishonesty, Lack of Integrity, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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Tolhurst Fisher LLP
Breaches, Code of Conduct 2007, Code of Conduct 2011, Money Laundering Regulations, SRA Principles 2011
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Shah Syed Rashid Masood Sahib
Criminal Convictions, SRA Principles 2019
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Zahid Akhtar
Authorisation of Individuals Regulations 2019, Breaches, SRA Principles 2019
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Shaune Kerry Irving
Charges 1, 2 & 3 of disciplinary application 110/24 and 181/24 there is a finding of professional misconduct.
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Talha Jamil Ahmad
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Firms 2019, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Failures, Lack of Integrity, SRA Principles 2019
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(unnamed)
Appeals
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David William McDermott
Breaches, Code of Conduct 2011, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Dishonesty, Lack of Integrity, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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Waheed Ur Rehman Mian
Breaches, Code of Conduct 2011, Failures, SRA Principles 2011
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Raja Shazad Khan; Ishtiaq Ahmed
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Firms 2019, Dishonesty, Lack of Integrity, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2019, SRA Principles 2019
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Ahmed Ajina
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Dishonesty, Lack of Integrity, SRA Principles 2019
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Claire Letitia Parry
Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, SRA Principles 2019
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Paul Christopher Flaherty; William John Gregory Osmond
Breaches, Failures, Misappropriation of Client Account, Money Laundering Regulations, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2011, SRA Principles 2011
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Leo Benedict Michael Foster
Breaches, Lack of Integrity, SRA Principles 2019
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Rashid Ahmad Khan
Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, SRA Principles 2019
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Robin Edward Stubbings
Breaches, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, SRA Principles 2019
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Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
Breaches, Code of Conduct 2011, Code of Conduct for Firms 2019, Money Laundering Regulations, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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Craig Cooper; Erich Kurtz
Code of Conduct 2011, SRA Principles 2011
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Respondent AM
Code of Conduct 2011, Code of Conduct for Firms 2019, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2011, SRA Authorisation Rules, SRA Principles 2019
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David Baynon Crosby
Breaches, Client Money, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Dishonesty, Lack of Integrity, Misappropriation of Client Account, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2019, SRA Principles 2019
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Simon Jonathan Tager
Lack of Integrity, Recklessness, SRA Principles 2011
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Matthew Howells
Breaches, Criminal Convictions, Lack of Integrity, SRA Principles 2019
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Jonathan Richard Maurice Gerber
Breaches, Failures, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2011, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2019, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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Mark Ian Williams
Breaches, Client Money, Code of Conduct for Solicitors, REL's & RFL's 2019, Lack of Integrity, Practice Framework Rules, Solicitors Accounts Rules 2019, SRA Principles 2011, SRA Principles 2019
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.