The following is a Code of Conduct for barristers who are member of Avma’s Lawyers Service. It is implied that any barrister that subscribes to Avma’s Lawyers Service will adopt this Code of Conduct.
Membership of the Lawyers Service and compliance with this Code demonstrate that member barrister are committed to providing their clients with a quality service. It also shows support for Avma’s charitable aims.
This Code requires that barrister members of Lawyers Service will:
- Be sympathetic to Avma’s aims and core objectives.
- Always act to the best of their ability for the clients they represent.
- Always act with integrity, honesty, and commitment to the case throughout the case.
- Declare as soon as possible any potential conflict of interest that may exist in acting for the client.
- Treat those they represent with dignity, respect, and compassion while managing their expectations.
- Demonstrate an ongoing commitment to education and training in clinical negligence work to ensure their practice, advice, and skills remain current and relevant.
- Not approach Avma’s Lawyers Service or utilise Avma’s resources with a request for information or advice for the purposes of assisting a defendant or a proposed defendant in clinical negligence proceedings.
Barristers’ membership of Avma’s Lawyers Service does not confer any specialist status or knowledge of clinical negligence, and should not be used in a way that suggests otherwise.
Nothing in this Code of Conduct is intended to preclude any barrister from representing a defendant in a clinical negligence case and fulfilling his/her professional duty to that client.
Being a barrister member of Avma’s Lawyers Service implies that the barrister has read this Code of Conduct and agrees to be bound by it.