Continuing projects
Women in the Law in Queensland
This LSC project is being conducted in collaboration with Dr Francesca Bartlett of the University of Queensland on why women solicitors are less than a third likely to have complaints made about them than are male solicitors. A literature review has been undertaken and demonstrates that while these lower figures are seen consistently in other countries, there has been very little research on this topic. In the course of our research we have found there are gaps in demographic data for women solicitors and so a brief survey is being circulated to fill those knowledge gaps and help in the understanding of this anomalie. The results will be available in a report on this site when complete.
Other continuing projects (as at February 2008)
1. The Lawyers, Clients and the Business of Law Symposium Series: An ongoing partnership with the Griffith Socio-Legal Research Centre.
2. Analysis of the Commission’s complaints database: An ongoing in-house project that, among other things, seeks to identify the practitioners and practices most at risk of complaint.
3. Interactive ethical scenarios project: An ongoing partnership with the Centre for Biological Information Technology at the University of Queensland (and other project partners on a scenario by scenario basis) that is designed to give lawyers and law students opportunities to engage on-line and seek to resolve real world ethical problems arising in the course of legal practice.
4. Ethical Culture Check for Law Firms: The ethical health check for law firms is an on-line instrument that allows firms to think about their ethical culture and how well it supports the people who work within their firm to aspire to and sustain high standards of professional practice and perhaps to identify some ways in which it can be strengthened and improved.
5. Women in the Law in Queensland: An ongoing collaboration with the University of Queensland on the likelihood of complaints against female solicitors as compared to male solicitors.
Completed projects (as at February 2008)
1. Survey on unsatisfactory professional conduct: A project undertaken with the support and assistance of the Griffith Law School that tested how lawyers, law students and members of the public understand and apply the concept of unsatisfactory professional conduct to a range of factual scenarios that are typical of complaints the Commission receives every day about the conduct of lawyers.
Last updated 9/04/2008 12:15:50 PM