Thursday, 13 October 2016

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS: CLIENT RELATIONSHIP



INTRODUCTION
It is true of every form of relationship, that there are certain models that keep the relationship working. The professional carries additional moral responsibilities for their clients. Professional- client relationship is the basis for the go about of the relationship between professionals and their clients. As a matter of fact, there are different analyses with regards to this relationship. All these analyses are based on addressing issues like: what kind of relationship is needed? Who should take decision? Is there need one acting on behalf of the other? This is also in a view to note the criteria to be taken in order to maintain a healthy relationship between a professional and his/her client. The appropriate ethical conception of the professional-client relationship is one that allows clients as much freedom to determine how their life is affected as is reasonably warranted on the basis of their ability to make decision.
There are general model set up for the conduct of professionals in relationship with their clients. These are developed models that govern the professional- client relationship. These ethical models often assume certain facts and provide guide lines to the relationship. These models are not based on unusual situations; they are based on the contacts of an average client with professionals. The central issue here is the allocation of responsibility and authority in decision making. The models are in effect and with reference to different distributions of authority and responsibility in making decisions. The ethical models are in effect models of different distribution of authority and responsibility in decision-making.[1] The models include: agency, contract, paternalistic, advocacy, collegial or friendship and fiduciary models.
However this paper focuses on the models of professional- client relationship, but in this context I am going to particularly look at the advocacy and fiduciary model of professional client relationship. In this paper I would be discussing the decision making party of these models, including their strengths and their weaknesses.
FIDUCIARY MODEL OF PROFESSIONAL CLIENT RELATIONSHIP
By etymology, the word fiduciary is gotten from the Latin word “fiduciaries”, meaning “holding in trust”. A fiduciary is someone who has undertaken to act for and on behalf of another in a particular matter in circumstances which give rise to a relationship of trust and confidence. It is an ethical relationship of trust between two or more parties. In a fiduciary relationship, one person, in a position of vulnerability, justifiably vests confidence, reliance and trust in another whose aid, advice or protection is sought in some matter. In such a relation good conscience requires the fiduciary to act at all times for the sole benefit and interest of the one who trusts.
This model emphasizes a professional’s special obligation of being worthy of a client’s trust. A professional and his or her client are said to be in a fiduciary relationship when the two of then involves in a relationship that involve the confidence and trust of one in another. The basic responsibility of the fiduciary model is to provide the client with a beneficial service, it equally have the responsibility not to violate the trust by causing any form of harm to the other who has surrendered in trust and confidence some degree of autonomy in the relationship. A failure in responsibility is misconduct and a neglect of duty. The fiduciary is given trust by the other and that is because such trust is needed to permit the fiduciary to do what it is that the fiduciary is to do for the other.
In this model of relationship, both parties are bestowed responsibility and their judgments are both considered. One party always in a more advantageous position, and therefore has a special obligation to the other. The weaker party always has dependency towards the stronger party and exercises trust for the stronger party, while the stronger party makes itself available and worthy of trust. For this process and model to be effective, the client must trust convincingly the accuracy of the professional’s analysis of the problems. The client relies on the professional’s usage of his knowledge and ability to his (client) interest. With regards to this, the professional must ensure that the trust and reliance of the client on him are justified.
It is notable about this model that it is not a case where the professional presents an overall recommendation for a client’s acceptance or rejection, because the client’s interest can be affected by various aspects of the professional’s work. With regards to this, consulting the client is necessary at different times. The expertise of the professional does not extend to the client’s values and choice. The professionals must first work from the model perspective of fiduciary framework of the professional client relationship, where responsibilities are share between the professional and his subject. The fiduciary model can be applied in the relationships between: doctors and their patients, teachers and their students, priests and their parishioners, insurance companies, building contractors etc.
THE DECISION MAKING PARTY OF THE FIDUCIARY MODEL
In this model, the client exercises more authority and responsibility with regards to decision making. The client’s consent and participation is highly required in the process of making decision. The client’s consent is given or withheld because of the dependency in the professional’s information. The professional have the responsibility of proposing course of action; the professional supplies the ideas and information and it is the duty of the client to agree or disagree. For example, a medical doctor may suggest operation for a patient, but it is left for the patient to agree with the doctors suggestion or not, though the response is always most likely to be on the positive.
STRENGHTS OF THE FIDUCIARY MODEL
FREEDOM: one of the major strengths or advantage that is attributed to this model is the liberty and freedom it grants to the clients in the decision making process. The client in this model is opportune to agree on how his/her life is affected as warranted on the basis of his/her ability with regards to making decisions.
HOSPITALITY: this model is mutually inclusive; in the sense that, given the fact that a client has reason, and has casted his/her trust on the skills of a professional, the professional in turn offers to his best capacity his professional techniques in dealing with his client. Being aware of the fact that his client is dependent on him to extents and avoiding a betrayal of the client’s trust in him, the professional offers his services in professionalism and mutually to his client.
EQUALITY/ CONSIDERATION AND FAIRNESS: this model is fair enough to give equal attention to both the professional and the client. In this model, both the professional’s and client’s judgment are being put into consideration; irrespective of the expertise of a professional, the client is equally given a chance to decide on what he/she wants for his/herself.
WEAKNESSES OF THIS MODEL
A major weakness of this model is that it is ruling off the possibility that some clients do not know how to make decision; they don’t really know what they want for themselves. It is appropriate only to the range of competent clients. Another weakness of it is that, some people find it difficult to trust other people, maybe because of their past experiences. If a client cannot trust the professional in their relationship, the relationship would hardly work out positively.
ADVOCACY MODEL OF PROFESSIONAL CLIENT RELATIONSHIP
Advocacy is an active verbal support for a cause or position in a situation of interference, when someone speaks up for another person with the sole intention of making  the person’s view and wishes listened to with the respect due to them. This marks the essence of the advocacy model. This model always defines a natural activity presented where people stand for others in situations; making others’ concerns their priority. Mostly the first experience of advocacy is always within the family, where members of a family supports and promotes each other’s interests and rights. The function of advocacy, as it pertains to public relations, remains a professional role responsible to client interests, professional interests, and third-party interests only if the professional includes a preliminary stage in the process of accepting a client’s issue. Advocates need to be flexible in the approaches they use to ensure consumers receive the type of advocacy support most likely to increase their ability to self-advocate and to become empowered to make their own choices about the solutions to their issues and concerns.
Advocacy belongs to the family of conflict resolution.  Conflict can be resolved using two parties or three parties depending on whether a model for mediation, conciliation, negotiation or advocacy is used. In this model, the negotiator develops a collaborative relationship with the client. The advocacy model comes in different types or forms which includes: self-advocacy, peer advocacy, statutory advocacy, best interest advocacy, crisis advocacy, professional/ specialist advocacy and political advocacy. Peer advocacy takes place when the individual providing the help has been through, or is going through, a similar experience.  This is also known as support advocacy and is often used by support groups. Professional/ specialist advocacy is most widely recognized as legal advocacy, but may also be provided by others who provide specialist advocacy service such as HDC advocates who are under the Health and Disability Commissioner Act.
Advocacy is divided into two main types of advocacy, case and cause or systemic   advocacy.   An individual or groups of individuals either carry out case advocacy by themselves as self-advocates or using paid or unpaid advocates who either support or represent their case. Cause or systemic advocacy is where an individual or group advocates on the need to bring about changes to a structure, system, policy or legislation.  This form of advocacy does not focus on an individual but instead represents the rights and interests of a group with similar concerns and issues. [2]
Part of the assumption of advocacy is that the advocate takes up the client’s cause fully, without any value judgment toward the client himself. Advocates use their expertise to advance a client’s cause. The “ideology of advocacy according to legal scholar W. H. Simon calls.” this ideology assumes two principles of conduct: (1) that a professional is neutral or detached from the client’s purposes, and (2) that the professional is an aggressive partisan of the client working to advance the client’s ends. The decision making party of this model is mostly the professional but with the instrumentality of the information obtained from the client. For example: the professional relationship between a lawyer and his client.
STRENGTH OF THE ADVOCACY MODEL
This model makes it possible for the voice of the less privilege to be heard in the society. This model calls for fair judgment, in the sense that when a person advocates for the other, it is always in view of requesting a fair judgment on the person’s behalf. This model in a way empowers the weak of the society.
WEAKNESSES OF THE ADVOCACY MODEL
 This major weakness of this role is the tendency of the advocator, speaking not exactly what his subject has in mind. The role of the advocate equally assumes a certain amount of subjectivity in the sense of one-sidedness of purpose and lack of consideration for third-party interests. This model is strictly one-sided; it does not really consider the other part. Example, if a lawyer sets out to advocate for a murderer in a law court, he will not really consider the fact that his client has killed somebody.
CONCLUSION
The professional client relationship is a sensitive one, and with regards to the sensitivity of the relationship between professionals and their client, models of relationship has been advanced, addressing the issue of who does what, and who make the decision in the relationship, equally giving a guide line and a set up procedure to be followed by a professional in relation with his client. These relationship models make certain assumptions about the client’s abilities.
The professional client relationship is based on the usual sort of contact, the average client have with professionals. However, in this paper I had discussed to concisely the professional client relationship models of fiduciary and advocacy.
BIBLIOGRAPHY

2.      Michael D. Bayles, Professional Ethics , Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Inc., 1981.

3.      Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology Volume 2, Number 1     summer. 2009.

4.      RULES OF ADVOCATE’S ETHICS: Approved by the Supreme Qualifying Commission of the Bar October 1-2, 1999.











ADVOCACY AND FIDUCIARY MODEL OF PROFESSIONAL CLIENT RELATIONSHIP


BY


MUOGBO MICHAEL I.

SS/PP/2368


A Term Paper submitted to the Department of Philosophy, Seminary of Saints Peter and Paul, Bodija, Ibadan, in affiliation with the University of Ibadan, in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Award of the Bachelor of Arts Degree in philosophy (B.A. HONS.).

TERM PAPER: decision making apparatus of Advocacy and Fiduciary model of professional client relationship.


COURSE
PROFESIONAL ETHICS



COURSE CODE
SS/PHL/303


LECTURER
MR. LAWAL



DATE
JANUARY, 2015.


[1] Michael D. Bayles, Professional Ethics , Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Inc., 1981.p. 68.

1 comment:

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