Employed Lawyers

A. Entry and Composition

Around 20 per cent of barristers and a little over 20 per cent of solicitors with practis­ing certificates work as employed lawyers, that is, as employees within corporations, public bodies or local and central government.

²⁴¹ ‘Future Rights of Legal Executives’ The Chartered Legal Executive Journal: 2010 Student Supplement.

²⁴² Sauboorah (n 175).

they are in private practice. It is difficult to be sure of this, however, because 21 per cent of barristers did not disclose their ethnicity.^[2703]

If there are higher numbers of women and BME barristers in employed positions, it may be explained by the pressure corporations are under to comply with diversity policies. It is possible that in-house law departments provide more hospitable work environments for women and ethnic minorities than those found in private practice.

B. Function

Employed lawyers may have areas of work they are engaged to conduct for their employers. They may also be involved as general legal advisors. They are often involved in the appointment of private practice firms to act for their corporate employers. A range of reports show that in-house counsel negotiate down fees, and try alternatives to traditional legal services such as Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO).^[2704] They may also promote diversity in private practice. In 1999, for example, the Association of Corporate Counsel, representing in-house lawyers in the US, made a statement on behalf of 300 of the largest companies. It stated that they gave weight to the promotion of diversity in the workplace in appointing outside counsel.

C. Regulation

As employed practice grew more significant in the 1990s, both professions decided to accommodate it within the code of conduct for private practitioners. Employed lawyers are subject to the usual ethical rules, but these apply to their relationship with employers. For example, in relation to confidentiality, the SRA Handbook simply says ‘The outcomes listed above apply to your in-house practice’.^[2705] This makes it difficult for in-house lawyers to work for competing businesses because they cannot comply with past and present client confidentiality requirements.

Employed lawyers are generally allowed only to act for their employer, except in specified and circumscribed circumstances. Therefore, under the SRA Practice Framework Rules 2011, solicitors can act for a long list of clients other than their employer. These tend, however, to be people related in some way to the employment. Alternatively, the services provided must be provided in a restricted way. Thus they can, for example, act for a former work colleague, or a related company, or provide advice by telephone.^[2706] In such situations, employed lawyers must act within the limits of any authorisation to conduct reserved activities.^[2707] They must also ensure that they have appropriate indemnity insurance cover.^[2708]

VII.