Ms Blumer spent five years on the executive of the Law Society of the ACT and as the president for two years. During this time, she was involved in the creation of the National Professional Conduct Rules — rules which have been adopted in almost every state and territory.

Deferring to the rules will often help solve a conundrum, Ms Blumer explained. It is also appropriate to defer to common law about what is suitable conduct for lawyers. One should defer to whichever is of the higher standard, she said.

“It’s a very important thing to look after your integrity as a lawyer because you could end up in jail,” Ms Blumer said, advising lawyers to always exude honesty.

Ethical dilemmas can often arise for lawyers who wish to go further for their client, or mistakenly get their own interests and the client’s interests interwoven, Ms Blumer said. In addition, lawyers are sometimes in a situation of wanting to have success for themselves, or don’t want to get into trouble for losing a case. 

In any instance, Ms Blumer said lawyers must keep in mind that their first duty is to the court.

Safeguarding one’s reputation is another reason to always act ethically, she posited. 

“As Jane Austin would say, your reputation, once lost, is lost for a long time, and is very difficult to repair,” she mused, loss of reputation can mean losing clients and losing respect from colleagues and the broader profession. 

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“I’ve met a lot of judges over a lot of time, and they’ve all said to me, if somebody before them is of good reputation, they will probably give them more latitude than if they’ve got a person standing next to them who they don’t respect, who doesn’t have a good reputation because of their previous behaviour,” she illuminated. 

Acting with courtesy is integral to maintaining a good reputation, as well as for working effectively, she went on.

“Often, we’re dealing with warring parties, who may go at each other’s throats. Lawyers are permitted to come in the middle and communicate.

“If we start being rude to each other or get so involved in pushing our client’s case that we start being aggressive and nasty, nothing gets done. 

“You can deliver a message better politely than if you are openly rude and sarcastic and combative — and it’s far more lethal.

“Plus, everything we write might end up attached to an affidavit before the court, and if you’ve written a snitty little nasty letter, you don’t want that pathetic piece of literature to be seen by the court,” she added.

“When those ethical situations arise, practise how to deal with it,” Ms Blumer advised. 

“Look at your rules, talk to a colleague, take it step by step, and if you do that every time, it will become second nature, and you will always deal with those situations well when they arise.”