A Changing Climate for In-House Lawyers? What Should They Really Say to Clients?

8 Pages Posted: 24 Aug 2022

See all articles by Peter Kellett

Peter Kellett

Government of the United Kingdom - Environment Agency

Date Written: August 8, 2022

Abstract

This contribution considers how solicitors’ professional obligations are evolving as solicitors seek to reconcile the tensions between the public interest and their clients’ interests in the context of climate change. In the absence of an intervention by the regulator, professional bodies have now stepped in. The Law Society’s recent Resolution on Climate Change may yet have a profound impact on solicitors in private practice and in-house. Those working in-house have great opportunities to support the carbon transition, but also face greater potential professional peril if, for example, they fail to provide competent advice. Climate change creates opportunities and risks for many solicitors far beyond those who identify as environmental lawyers. But praise should be reserved for those who avoid greenwashing. Current professional rules which encourage lawyers to act as they please on any prospective work, no matter how harmful to the public interest, may merit re-examination.

Keywords: climate change law, public law, rule of law, legal professional ethics, legal profession

JEL Classification: K32

Suggested Citation

Kellett, Peter, A Changing Climate for In-House Lawyers? What Should They Really Say to Clients? (August 8, 2022). Faculty of Laws University College London Law Research Paper No. 8/22, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4184891 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4184891

Peter Kellett (Contact Author)

Government of the United Kingdom - Environment Agency ( email )

United Kingdom

Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?

Paper statistics

Downloads
59
Abstract Views
568
Rank
733,650
PlumX Metrics