Ethics Hub

Managing risk within your practice can be an ethical issue when it impacts on the interests of your clients. You should take proactive steps to identify, understand and manage those risks to ensure you comply with your duty to act in your clients’ best interests.

Risks within your practice that could impact your clients include the risk of:

• insolvency
• a cyber attack
• a data breach
• counter-inclusive behaviour
• a regulatory or legal breach
• gaps in competency

There are also wider political, economic and social risks that may impact on your ability to deliver services to clients in a way that meets their needs. Businesses, individual practitioners and regulators all need to consider the likely effect of such risks on their activities and put measures in place to mitigate any negative impacts that might arise.

The following resources can help you manage risks within your practice, to protect your business and your clients from unexpected events, market shocks and wider changes.

Resources

• Our Annual Risk Outlook is a tool to help Costs Lawyers recognise and mitigate emerging market risks that could impact their business or clients
• Our Guidance Note on Indemnity Insurance sets out factors to take into account when deciding which risks to insure against and the extent of cover you need
• The National Cyber Security Agency provides extensive guidance and training on how to protect your business and your clients’ information against cyber risks
• Our Ongoing Competency Framework identifies new skills that Costs Lawyers might need throughout their career to ensure they remain competent to meet clients’ needs