Supreme Ethics

This week, the Supreme Court came out with an ethics guide for the nine Justices. This comes amid pressure on the Court following media revelations about undisclosed gifts and vacations to some on the Court. Yet while these guidelines are arguably a step in the right direction, they fall short of what needs to happen.

They fall short because they are guidelines. Not rules. There is no enforcement mechanism. They are at best suggestions. As the highest Court in the land, with some of the top legal minds, the Supreme Court has a duty to lead by example. Yet in a profession with binding ethics rules for practicing attorneys, these suggestions simply aren’t enough.

The reason we need strong leadership from the Court for the legal profession goes beyond ethics. It goes to the well-being of those in the legal profession and the well-being of the profession itself.

Ethics rules are often the mechanism for disciplining attorneys who’ve developed substance abuse issues and other mental health challenges. While the need to protect clients is apparent, the fact is that we need strong leadership on ethics so that we can start having robust conversations about these attorneys, attorneys who are suffering a disease and need treatment, not discipline.

The Supreme Court has an opportunity to set the tone of the the conversation surrounding ethics in the legal profession. It has the opportunity to push the conversation about the overlap between ethics and mental health challenges forward. Yet it cannot do that while continuing to fall short of the standards other legal professions hold themselves to everyday. The LegalMind Society hopes to see these conversations moving forward. With or without the Court.