ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how different the ethics of ‘special’ advocacy are from ‘ordinary’ advocacy and how special advocates have viewed their ethical obligations when they act in this role. One can compare the preamble to the current American Bar Association Model Code which states that a lawyer, as advocate, ‘zealously asserts the client’s position under the rules of the adversary system’. The general position of the special advocates interviewed was that they were more likely to do good than harm in the role that they played. The special advocate has a duty to represent the interests of the ‘client’, but a divergence may open up between these interests and the instructions that have been given by the ‘client’. Some of the special advocates interviewed accepted there were certain areas where greater clarity of practice could be provided. Special advocates face ethical challenges that are different from the ordinary advocate as a result of severing the professional-client relationship.
