This is one of the main conclusions of 'Legal Risk: Definition, Management and Ethics', a report from Professor Richard Moorhead and Dr Steven Vaughan of University College, London. They undertook 34 interviews with senior lawyers and compliance staff working for organisations. The authors spell out the conflict: 'Risk assessment requires professional objectivity for such assessment to be useful and accurate, yet the culture of ‘being commercial’ and the framing influences of a professional culture that emphasises putting the client first strains that objectivity.' And then they conclude: 'The professional obligation of independence is also sometimes called into question.'

Corporate norms

A part of the problem that the academics identify is that ad hoc procedures were used to measure risk - to the extent that they were often instinctive rather than systematic. The lawyers were also encouraged subtly by the internal culture of their employers to exercise a certain discretion, suggest the authors. They say: 'More generally a corporate discipline was at work that protected the discretion of senior decision-makers and disciplined lawyers towards corporate norms. That discipline reminded lawyers that they were there to support the business; that they advise and do not decide.' Source: University College London