ortable within the profession, some may be tempted to take ‘shortcuts’ within the profession, as the initial fear

of being reprimanded for unprofessional conduct begins to fade. Indeed, the declining standards of the legal
profession has been noted in the literature[1], with some suggesting that senior lawyers may forget and overlook
minor ethical obligations, in part due to decreasing prudence.[2] On the other hand however, Downey argues
that in many cases, complaints by junior lawyers regarding unethical behaviour by their seniors has tended to
result in the findings of junior lawyers simply misunderstanding the situation.[3] Age, experience and familiarly
may not be factors influencing how ethical a lawyer’s behaviour is – it may be a matter of individual
characteristics. Ultimately, there is