The Wisconsin Association of Legal Professionals has formally signed up as an Ethics First supporter, becoming the first association representing legal professionals to do so. NCRA’s Ethics First program was developed to recognize NCRA members who have made a commitment to abide by and promote the rules of the Code of Professional Ethics, particularly with regard to gift-giving.
Ethics First seeks to positively educate court reporters, firms, and clients that the impartiality and neutrality of the court reporter is of utmost importance in maintaining an unbiased legal system. Getting the word out to attorneys, legal staff, and other consumers of court reporting services about the perils of accepting free gifts from court reporting firms is also one of NCRA’s Ethics First task force’s charges.
At a meeting in April, WALP’s membership formally voted and unanimously agreed to support the precepts of Ethics First regarding incentive and excessive gift-giving. Even greater, the association proudly features the Ethics First logo on its website.
“We are extremely grateful and proud that an association representing so many individuals involved in the legal profession inside Wisconsin recognizes the potential ethical issues associated with incentive and excessive gift-giving,” says NCRA President Tami Smith Keenan, RPR, CPE. “I would like to personally thank the Wisconsin Association of Legal Professionals for making this commitment to promoting the Ethics First program and NCRA as a whole.”
“The Wisconsin Association for Legal Professionals is proud to be an Ethics First supporter,” says 2013-2014 WALP President Darla Stephenson, PP. “The members of WALP are bound by the same objectives and standards of conduct represented by the Ethics First program, and so the decision to become a supporter was an easy one.”
For more information on the Ethics First program, visit NCRA.org/ethicsfirst.
