Wink wink, nudge nudge

'Good name in man and woman's dear, my lord; is the immediate jewel of our souls: who steals my purse, steals trash '¦ but he that filches from me my good name robs me of that which not enriches him, and makes me poor indeed,' so says scheming Iago to Othello as he works him on to his doom.

Whatever poison Iago dripped into his general's ear, he was speaking the truth here. We all know that the consequences of the parliamentary expenses scandal are serious: the very people who are trusted to legislate, scrutinise and hold to account the executive have, to varying degrees, been found to be seriously wanting.

Of course not all of them are in this category, but a significant number are for the damage to have been done. Trust, like respect, can take a lifetime to acquire and no time to lose.

Take it on trust?

This is very relevant to our world. Our professions run on trust. We have to be able to know that when one lawyer says something to another, then that person is telling the truth and can be relied upon, come what may.

In court the whole business relies on the judge being able to trust counsel, and counsel each other. This is why the greatest sin is knowingly to mislead the court. This is why those very few who are not reliable are well known and are dealt with guardedly. Where else would we be otherwise?

For solicitors, the worst thing to be known as is 'sharp'. 'Sharp' does not necessarily mean that the firm act in an out and out dishonest way; rather, that there is something about the way that they operate, that they are sly, wriggle out of phrases and obligations with the tacit 'ah, but that is not what we said'.

What is always intriguing is how the truly bent and dishonest client is able to find the bent professional. It always amazes me that in the world of mortgage frauds, or money laundering, when there are professionals involved, how it is that they came to be a part.

I still think it extraordinary that somebody can really have set out in life to do a law degree or law conversion, take professional exams and pass them, then do the necessary training, and all because all along the idea was that once in practice they would use their position for dishonest gain. After all, it is not as if the job goes unrewarded; and if you are good at it and in the right place then you are going to make a comfortable enough living, it would seem.

So how do they find each other, and how do they make the right overtures? Again, when is it in the solicitor/client relationship in a mortgage fraud that somebody finally gets around to talking turkey? Or have they gone to that person in the first place? Then you need the dodgy estate agent and possibly a few other people. Presumably they don't advertise or put it about too widely that they are prepared to carry out false valuations and so on '“ so how does it start?

A look here, a pause there

Perhaps it is rather like some careful courtship '“ a remark here, a certain look, a pause that hangs on the air where the dishonesty that dare not speak its name nonetheless manages to get into that clinch which means that the lovers' fortunes are tied together.

I would be terrible at this. How do you know that you are not being set up? How do you know that you are not being bugged or about to be blackmailed? In the end it must be greed '“ and that is the problem with fraud. Most fraudsters are very clever people and would have made quite a lot of money anyway if they had put the same effort into honest work and endeavour as they did into dishonest schemes. Madoff is a point '“ he was very rich and very clever '“ he just wanted to be richer. Shame that he did not heed Iago '“ well, he's got 150 years to read all of Shakespeare's plays and think about it, albeit too late.

Of course in the end it is always down to human nature; all inexplicable crime is. There are some crimes we understand or at least see how it comes about '“ the drug addict feeding addiction, the drunken violence or the rage of feuding people. But for the professionals, and therefore the gifted and able among society, it is always a puzzle.

Funnily enough the defendant clients understand our position very well. On many occasions when there has been a difficulty '“ a client on the wrong end of a bench warrant or otherwise has some explaining to do, although the client would love it if I was prepared to stand up and tell a whole load of fibs for him, he also understands when I say that I simply cannot do that. There has never once been a squeak in response, or a sacking. In fact the clients seem to like that and appreciate it. It makes them trust the system, perhaps.

So that is another reason why we need to keep our integrity and maintain trust '“ it is ironic that some honourable members who are the law makers seem to have difficulty with the concept, when those who are or have been accused of being law-breakers do not.