Discover the risks that lawyers face when they do not prioritize ongoing training. Learn why staying current is essential for success in the legal field.
Lawyers, what are the risks for those who do not train?
Any lawyer who fails to comply with the obligation of continuous training required by the code of ethics may be subject to the sanction of censure.
Time for lawyers is always too little. So, often, one is forced to sacrifice professional updating or perhaps to join some online course, leaving the monitor on while one takes care of other practices. But what is the risk for the lawyer who does not train? If the training credits are not achieved at the end of the train, is it possible, as an automatic consequence, to be removed from the register provided for by Ministerial Decree 47/2016?
Index
- The CNF’s opinion on sanctions for lawyers who do not complete their training
- The position of the Court of Cassation on the lawyer who does not respect the mandatory training
- How many training credits are needed to be in compliance?
- The penalty for those who do not attend training courses
The CNF’s opinion on sanctions for lawyers who do not complete their training
The answer was provided by the National Council of Lawyers, in opinion no. 15/2024, in response to a question posed by the COA of Novara. According to the CNF, a lawyer who does not complete his training cannot be removed from the register . In fact, the rule provided for by art. 2 paragraph 5 of Ministerial Decree 47/2016 is not yet operational since the implementing decree of the Ministry of Justice is missing.
The National Council of Lawyers observes, first of all, that “Article 2, paragraph 5 of Ministerial Decree 47/2016 refers to a subsequent decree of the Minister of Justice the task of establishing the methods by which each of the district orders identifies, with automatic systems, the substitute declarations to be subjected to annual random checks”.
Therefore, “the failure to adopt the aforementioned ministerial decree still makes the rules for cancellation due to failure to comply with the requirement of continuous exercise of the profession inapplicable, even where this arises from failure to fulfill the training obligation”.
Consequently, the opinion concludes, “the cancellation for failure to fulfill the training obligation is not yet operational” and the COA is responsible for “the appropriate evaluations regarding consequences of another nature of the failure to fulfill the obligation in question, such as reporting to the CDD for the possible opening of disciplinary proceedings”.
The position of the Court of Cassation on the lawyer who does not respect the mandatory training
It is also necessary to point out the position of the United Sections of the Court of Cassation [1] according to which the lawyer who does not respect the obligation of training risks a disciplinary sanction . Sanction which, in this case, has been identified as censure . Therefore, the professional who does not participate in the courses and does not accumulate the credits imposed by law and by ethics still runs a risk, even if lower than suspension from the practice of the profession.
Violation of training obligations is both a condition for maintaining registration in the register of lawyers [2] and an ethical duty [3] .
In the exercise of the profession, the lawyer is in fact required to deepen his expertise for the benefit of the public interest – and therefore of his clients – to the correct professional performance and the best administration of justice.
To this end, he is required to take care of training throughout his professional life, participating in conferences and courses accredited by the Cnf and other training initiatives listed in art. 13 of the regulation (among others, for example, the publication of legal essays or articles in specialized journals, including online).
How many training credits are needed to be in compliance?
The reference period for evaluating compliance with the training obligation is three years. During each three-year period (the next deadline is set for December 31, 2016), the lawyer must have accrued at least 60 training credits, of which at least 15 for each year. Therefore, for example, it is not possible to accumulate 50 credits in a single year and another 10 divided between the other two years: the minimum, for each year is, as mentioned, 15 credits.
Within the three-year period and, therefore, of the total 60 credits, at least 9 credits must derive from courses on forensic ethics (or rather, the “forensic system and social security and professional ethics and ethics”); these must be spread over the three years in such a way as to guarantee at least 3 credits of ethics for each year.
| Typology | 1st year | 2nd year | 3rd year | Total minimum requirements for the three-year period |
| Formative credits | 15 minimum | 15 minimum | 15 minimum | 60 credits |
| Deontology | 3 minimum | 3 minimum | 3 minimum | 9 credits |
The lawyer can also accumulate training credits by attending distance learning or e-learning courses (so-called FAD), but the credits obtained in this way cannot exceed 40% of the total credits in the three-year period.
The penalty for those who do not attend training courses
Anyone who does not obtain the minimum number of training credits during the three-year period may be subject to disciplinary action by their own order. The United Sections have deemed censure to be sufficient as a sanction for those who do not fulfill training obligations . According to the code of ethics, censure consists of formal reprimand and is applied when the seriousness of the infraction, the degree of responsibility, the accused’s previous record and his behavior after the fact lead to the belief that he will not incur another infraction.