Law firms cannot be expected to micromanage employees, and instead they rely on attorneys and staff members to perform their duties in a legal or ethical manner. However, while firms may be confident that employees will conform their behavior to applicable standards, there are inevitably times when even those most outwardly competent employees may conduct themselves with less-than-perfect ethics or otherwise make a mistake.
All law firms will likely face ethical issues or alleged claims of malpractice at some point. While law firms are often thought of as single entities, individual attorneys and staff make up the structure of a firm and perform the day-to-day tasks. Acknowledging that a firm is made up of individuals, law firms can take steps to reduce the likelihood of wrongdoing by their employees and, accordingly, limit risks for the firm.
