Keeping the Crown's Conscience: A Theory of Lawyering for Public Sector Counsel

Abstract

In theory, public sector counsel should have few problems in adhering to their professional duties; after all, they usually have only one client. However, given the complexity of government and the human tendency to identify with real people rather than deemed legal persons, it can be easy for public sector counsel to misalign loyalties. Whatever counsels' personal relationships within the entity, the lawyers' duty of loyalty is owed to the entity in its broadest incarnation and not to any one part of it or person within it. It is on this basis that the author seeks to articulate a theory within which public sector lawyers may consider their role and determine the appropriate course of action.