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“Social licence” considerations have no place in practice of law

Mark Leibler in office
Quoted in the Australian Financial Review, senior partner Mark Leibler has backed the position of NSW Supreme Court judge Francois Kunc that “social licence” considerations have no place in the practice of law.

Responding to the controversy over an email sent to staff at MinterEllison by its former CEO, Justice Kunc wrote in The Australian Law Review that “Lawyers are members of a profession which already has something more enduring and legally binding than a ‘social licence’”.

Asked whether he agreed with the judge, Mark told the AFR’s legal editor Michael Pelly that “When it comes to law firms, for precisely the reasons Justice Kunc sets out, the situation is entirely different. Even people who have apparently engaged in reprehensible and/or illegal conduct are entitled to legal representation by any law firm that accepts them as clients.”

To read the AFR’s online article, click here.

To read the print version, click here.

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