Obligations and supervision
Supervision of licensed trial counsel
When working as an attorney or trial counsel, licensed trial counsel are subject to the supervision of the Chancellor of Justice, the Disciplinary Board referred to in section 6a, subsection 1 of the Advocates Act, and Board on Trial Counsel.
The independent Disciplinary Board operating in connection with the Finnish Bar Association handles supervision cases concerning attorneys-at-law, public legal aid attorneys and licensed trial counsel. If a licensed trial counsel has violated the ethical rules provided for in legislation, they must be admonished, warned, fined or deprived of their licence. There are two stages in the procedure: if the Disciplinary Board decides to impose a fine or revoke the licence, it must recommend the sanction to the Board on Trial Counsel, which then makes the final decision.
The supervision of licensed trial counsel differs in scope from that of attorneys-at-law and public legal aid attorneys. Licensed trial counsel are subject to supervision when working as an attorney or trial counsel, serving in another position to which they have been appointed by court order, or ordered to serve as counsel as referred to in the Legal Aid Act (regardless of whether or not the matter is a court case).
More information on Disciplinary Board
Obligations of licensed trial counsel
Section 8 of the licensed Trial Counsel Act requires licensed trial counsel to honestly and conscientiously fulfil the assignments with which they are entrusted as attorney and trial counsel. Licensed trial counsel who engage in the work of an attorney or trial counsel on a professional basis must have sufficient liability insurance to cover financial losses caused to others in the course of said work.
In their duties, trial counsel must in particular:
- be loyal to their client and protect the interests and rights of their client to the best of their ability
- be free of external influence that may hamper their ability to fully protect the interests of their client, and maintain independence in their work
- be free of grounds for disqualification in receiving and carrying out assignments
- refrain from disclosing without permission a private or family secret or a business or professional secret that they have learned in the course of their assignments
- refrain from revealing information without permission other than information referred to in the above paragraph that they have learned in the conduct of their assignment regarding their client and the circumstances of the client
- attend to the assignments that they have received carefully, punctually, with sufficient flexibility and without causing unnecessary expenses
- maintain and develop their professional abilities and follow legal developments, in particular in those legal fields in which they work
- refuse to accept an assignment for which they do not have the necessary professional abilities or that they otherwise cannot perform in an appropriate manner
- maintain the funds and other assets belonging to their client separate from their own assets
- respond within a reasonable time to the contacts that they have received in connection with the work of an attorney or trial counsel, unless this is manifestly unnecessary due to an earlier response or another corresponding reason
- respond without undue delay to someone who has offered an assignment, if the licensed trial counsel does not accept such an assignment offered to them
- obtain the approval of their client for important measures dealing with the rights of said client, unless this is prevented by the urgency of the matter or other weighty reasons
- refrain, without a special reason, from undertaking legal measures without notifying the opposite party of the demands of their client and without reserving the opposite party reasonable time for consideration and the opportunity to reach a settlement in the matter
- refrain, without the consent of the opposite party, from referring to a compromise offer made by the opposite party outside of the negotiations on an agreement
- refrain from inappropriately pressuring the opposite party
- refrain from attempting to influence the court or another authority in an inappropriate manner and from subjecting the work or decision of the court or another authority to undue criticism
- refrain from making statements to the court or another authority that they know to be false, and from denying what they know to be true
- refrain from seeking to unduly influence a witness and
- refrain, without a special reason, from being in contact with the opposite party without the consent of the attorney or trial counsel of said party, if their client’s opposite party has retained an attorney or trial counsel.