The Professional Ethics of Christian Lawyers in Australia

Handbook (chapter)

Murray, Katie. 2025. "The Professional Ethics of Christian Lawyers in Australia." Cummings, Scott L., Butter, Tamara, Hammerslev, Ole and Rodriguez, Sergio Ivan Anzola (ed.) Research Handbook on the Sociology of Legal Ethics. Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 177-197
Chapter Title

The Professional Ethics of Christian Lawyers in Australia

Book Chapter CategoryHandbook (chapter)
ERA Publisher ID1811
Book TitleResearch Handbook on the Sociology of Legal Ethics
AuthorsMurray, Katie
EditorsCummings, Scott L., Butter, Tamara, Hammerslev, Ole and Rodriguez, Sergio Ivan Anzola
Page Range177-197
SeriesResearch Handbooks in Law and Society series
Chapter Number12
Number of Pages21
Year2025
PublisherEdward Elgar Publishing
ISBN9781800880559
9781800880566
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800880566.00020
Web Address (URL)https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap/book/9781800880566/chapter12.xml
Abstract

This chapter explores some of the ways that the personal values of Christian lawyers influence their ethical decision-making in legal practice. In doing so, it draws on empirical research conducted with a group of Christian lawyers in Australia in 2013-2015. The main theme of the paper is the lawyers’ commitment to the rule of law and the administration of justice, and the ways in which this assisted the lawyers to reconcile their own autonomy with that of their clients. More broadly, the chapter considers the extent to which this perspective might also contribute to discussions about how to balance individual autonomy, tolerance and diversity within a democratic society.
The chapter includes a detailed description of the methodology of semi-structured interviews that was used for the research, and refers to key studies of lawyers of faith in a comparable jurisdiction. Although the chapter provides an Australian perspective to the reconciliation of faith and legal practice, the topic is not unique to Australian lawyers, and may be of interest to readers beyond Australia.

Keywordsethical decision-making; Christian Lawyers; semi-structured interviews; faith and legal practice; individual autonomy; administration of justice
Contains Sensitive ContentDoes not contain sensitive content
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020480505. Legal practice, lawyering and the legal profession
Public Notes

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Byline AffiliationsUniversity of Southern Queensland
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