AustLaw Webinar | Ethics | The psychology of unethical behaviour by lawyers
The psychology of unethical behaviour by lawyers
Dr Allan McCay
Behavioural legal ethics is an emerging field of study that is now sometimes taught in law degrees. It considers how knowledge derived from psychology can be used to understand and address the way lawyers sometimes make poor ethical decisions that may result in disciplinary proceedings.
Lawyers (like people generally) cannot be assumed to be completely rational and psychological studies suggest they are likely to be affected by cognitive issues, such as cognitive biases (irrational ways of thinking of situations). Their ethical behaviour is also likely to be affected by others in the workplace.
In this session Allan will outline the field of behavioural legal ethics, discuss some reasons why research from this field of study should not be accepted uncritically, and consider some possible implication for the operation of law firms.
CPD Point 1 Ethics
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About Allan McCay
Dr Allan McCay is Deputy Director of The Sydney Institute of Criminology and an Adjunct Lecturer at the University of Sydney’s Law School. In addition to coordinating the Legal Research units at the Sydney Law School, he also teaches at the University of Sydney Foundation Program at Taylors College.
Named as one of one of the most influential lawyers of 2021 by Australasian Lawyer, he is a member of the Management Committee of the Julius Stone Institute of Jurisprudence at the University of Sydney, and an Affiliate Member of the Centre for Agency, Values, and Ethics, at Macquarie University.
Allan is also a member of the NeuroRights Network, an international group working towards responsible innovation in neurotechnology.
He has previously taught at the Law School at the University of New South Wales, and the Business School at the University of Sydney.
Allan trained as a solicitor in Scotland and has also practised as a commercial litigator in Hong Kong with the global law firm Baker McKenzie and is experienced in providing continuing professional development to the legal profession.
His first book (with Michael Sevel), Free will and the law: New perspectives is published by Routledge. His second book (with Nicole Vincent and Thomas Nadelhoffer) is entitled Neurointerventions and the law: Regulating human mental capacity and is published by Oxford University Press.