Soft Law and Ethics Programs: The Expanding Role for Company Attorneys
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Publication Date:
December 2006 -
Report Number:
A-0218-06-EA
With the proliferation of global business codes of conduct and company ethics and compliance programs, corporate lawyers face new challenges. Added to the traditional advocacy role is the function of arbiters of appropriate conduct in non-binding global initiatives. Responding to the requirements of “soft law”—quasi-legal instruments that have little or no binding force such as codes of conduct and guidelines promulgated by international organizations—companies need to formulate and enforce their organization’s business conduct standards worldwide.