Abstract
The integrity of Indonesian advocates is regulated by the Law 18/2003 concerning Advocates and the 2002 Code of Ethics for Indonesian Advocates. However, in a discussion of integrity, it is not sufficient to limit the scope to advocates since the definition of an advocate in the Law 18/2003 is narrower than the definition of a lawyer. As a result, the discussion has to go beyond the Law 18/2003 concerning Advocates and the 2002 Code of Ethics for Indonesian Advocates to have a wider reach. Integrity must be in Indonesia’s law schools in a more comprehensive manner. Other factors that promote the development of integrity and increase the competitiveness of lawyers must also be covered in Indonesian law schools. Finally, there is a need for an ecosystem that promotes the integrity of lawyers, involving law schools, law enforcements, clients and other related parties.
Introduction
Hukumonline, a leading legal media outlet in Indonesia, conducted interviews with a number of senior lawyers from prominent Indonesian law firms with the theme the ‘Road to [the] Top 100 Law Firms 2022’. 2 In these interviews, four senior lawyers from different major law firms in Indonesia concurred that integrity is essential for a lawyer. 3 Some basic definitions of integrity are ‘firm adherence to a code of especially moral or artistic values’ 4 or ‘the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles that you refuse to change’ 5 . 6
Arief Tarunakarya Surowidjojo, a co-founder of the law firm Lubis Ganie Surowidjojo (LGS), underlines the importance of a lawyer’s integrity. 7 This emphasis on integrity was also underlined by the founders of Assegaf Hamzah & Partners (AHP), who had previously worked at LGS in managing their law firm. 8 A co-founder of AHP, Chandra Hamzah, particularly emphasized the significance of a lawyer’s integrity. 9 For him, the integrity of a lawyer involves, inter alia: compliance with the law and disengaging from bribery to win cases or get projects. 10 For a lawyer to be able to compete professionally on the basis of their high level of integrity, they must be distinct from others and their work must be easy for others to comprehend. 11 Ira Andamara Eddymurthy, who is a co-founder and Managing Partner of SSEK Indonesian Legal Consultants, places a strong emphasis on the point that a lawyer has to have high integrity and must be able to maintain that high integrity while facing various challenges. 12 Lia Alizia, a Managing Partner of Makarim & Taira, highlights that her law firm has firmly maintained the value of integrity. 13
Outside the Indonesian context, there have also been many discussions on the significance of integrity for a lawyer. 14 Integrity is an example of one of the ‘Effectiveness Factors’ put forward by Shultz and Zedeck. 15 Integrity is placed under the character category along with inter alia ‘diligence’ and ‘self-development’. 16 Integrity is included as ‘six basic elements of professionalism’ according to Shestack. 17 Daniels claims that ‘virtually all elite corporate law firms share a deep commitment to the values of excellence and integrity’. 18 Bower highlights Holland & Knight which is recognized as a law firm in the United States with integrity. 19 ‘Profit improvement’ as opposed to ‘profit maximization’ is Holland & Knight’s measure of profitability. 20 Steinitz says that ‘maximizing profits’ should not be a preference when the ‘integrity of the justice system’ is at stake. 21 This is in accordance with the 2002 Code of Ethics for Indonesian Advocates, which prioritizes an advocate’s responsibility to preserve ‘law, truth, and justice’ (‘hukum, kebenaran dan keadilan’) over financial gains. 22
Can a law firm with integrity survive in Indonesia? According to Hamzah of AHP, integrity has its own market share. 23 In the context of the United States, integrity is an expected criterion that a client wants from a lawyer. 24 Outside the context of lawyers and law firms, one of the ‘common values’ that large companies in the Fortune 500 share is integrity. 25 It takes more than surface-level acts to grow a conviction in your clients or potential clients that your law firm is different and has integrity. 26 It is important to note that AHP, established in 2001, is the biggest law firm in Indonesia in terms of the number of fee earners. 27 LGS, Makarim & Taira and SSEK are other big Indonesian law firms with long track records. 28 LGS was founded in 1985, Makarim & Taira in 1980 and SSEK in 1992. 29 Can integrity open up career opportunities for a lawyer?
In mid-2022, Kompas, one of the leading printed newspapers in Indonesia, reported on its front page that the growing expense of higher education in Indonesia has not been matched by a rise in parents’ income, leading parents to struggle to send their children to higher education. 30 The following day, Kompas continued its coverage of this topic by comparing 12 study programmes and concluding that teacher education was the fastest programme for students to finish and the quickest return on investment in terms of repaying tuition fees. 31 What about law programmes? The analysis conducted by Kompas states that it takes 1.1 years to recoup the cost of a law degree. 32 This Kompas research has limitations because the sample only includes the average tuition fees at 30 public and private universities which Kompas considers to be large universities. 33 It is feasible that there are other programmes with average costs that are either higher or lower than the figure calculated by Kompas.
There are 4,523 higher education entities in Indonesia under the Indonesian Ministry of Education, Culture, Research and Technology. 34 Indonesia has 9,534,695 higher education students as of 21 December 2022. 35 The number of law students in Indonesia was 338,573 based on a 2020 report. 36 It is essential to improve the competitiveness of law students, given that tuition rates are rising and competition is intensifying. 37 This problem is made worse by the pandemic which resulted in a decline in the abilities of students. 38 The ‘Pandemic Generation’ 39 of law students will have to exert more effort if they want to enhance their level of competitiveness and be accepted in prominent law firms. Moreover, lawyers and future lawyers must be prepared for technological advancements in the area of artificial intelligence that are progressing rapidly and have the potential to disrupt the jobs of lawyers. 40
Hamzah says that teaching someone to have integrity is a lengthy process. 41 The research examines how to become law students and future lawyers with integrity. Furthermore, how to make these law students not only have integrity but also become more competitive. In Indonesia, undergraduate programmes in law are managed by study programmes in the field of law. 42 The law programme in higher education in Indonesia is classified as part of ‘profession and applied sciences’. 43 In this research the terms ‘undergraduate programme in law’, ‘study programme’ in the field of law, and ‘law school’ are used interchangeably.
Law and Ethics in Indonesia: Lawyers and Advocates
In Indonesia, the term ‘lawyer’ is wider than the term ‘advocate’ because becoming an advocate requires fulfilling various requirements before being appointed and carrying out the duties of the advocate profession. 44 In other words, an Indonesian lawyer is not always an Indonesian advocate. 45 However, a lawyer may offer legal services similar to those of an advocate by adhering to certain conditions designed to protect clients and other stakeholders. 46 The authors of this research decided to cover a wider scope by using the word ‘lawyer’; in the Indonesian context, this is a person who is an advocate or a legal professional who is not an advocate but who has a first degree in law. 47 There are reasons why a lawyer might not yet be an advocate; for instance, the lawyer might be currently apprenticing to become an advocate, they have yet to fulfil or manage the requirements to become an advocate, or they might be involved in legal aid activities where the person concerned does not yet require the status of an advocate. 48 This research elaborates how integrity specifically relates to advocates in Indonesia.
One of the requirements for a person to be appointed as an advocate in Indonesia is that they must have ‘high integrity’ (‘integritas yang tinggi’). 49 High integrity is placed in the Law Number 18 Year 2003 concerning Advocates (Law 18/2003) as one of the characteristics required for a lawyer, along with four others. 50 If a person wants to be an advocate, they must also be appointed by an advocate organization and sworn in by the high court. 51
Even though the term ‘integrity’ appears in only one article in the Law 18/2003, 52 the value of integrity can be located in a number of parts of the Law 18/2003, which will be discussed in this section. Take, for instance, the word ‘honest’ (‘jujur’), which appears as a requirement for becoming an advocate and is also included in the oath of advocates. 53 The word ‘fair’ (‘adil’) is also used in the same way. 54 The value of integrity is also available in the advocate’s oath, which states that regarding any matter with which an advocate is dealing, an advocate must not offer a bribe to related parties. 55 An advocate also pledges to apply Pancasila, which has the implicit content of integrity. 56 Pancasila has ‘fair and civilised humanity’ (‘kemanusiaan yang adil dan beradab’) which can be associated with integrity. 57
Advocates are supervised by a supervisory commission from an advocate organization. 58 An honorary council of an advocate organization has the authority to take disciplinary measures against advocates who do not adhere to the value of integrity, which may include issuing a verbal warning or even termination as an advocate. 59 The Law 18/2003 contains regulations that govern types of violations that might occur in connection with the advocate profession. 60 Furthermore, advocates in Indonesia have a code of ethics that applies to them. 61 Indonesia has a number of advocate organizations that can appoint advocates. 62 There are at least five major Indonesian advocate organizations, all of which adhere to the same code of ethics. 63 Although there is no specific or explicit mention of ‘integrity’ in the 2002 Code of Ethics for Indonesian Advocates, the value of integrity can be found there. 64 For instance, according to the code, one of the traits of an advocate’s character should be having ‘high morals’ (‘moral yang tinggi’). 65 Furthermore, the words ‘honesty’ (‘kejujuran’) and ‘honest’ (‘jujur’) appear in the code as one of the characteristics of an advocate. 66
The Role of Law Schools
The Insertion of Integrity into Law Schools
How to measure whether someone has integrity? Is it necessary to do an integrity test? Faust examines the benefits and drawbacks of conducting integrity tests on prospective employees, emphasizing, among other things, that integrity tests must be conducted while respecting the rights of the person being tested and without breaching the law. 67 One of the advantages of an integrity test is that it ensures that a candidate has integrity in order to prevent, for example, unlawful conduct. 68
What about law school applicants? Should an integrity test be necessary as an entry requirement? In principle, law schools could administer integrity tests if they wanted to, as long as precautions were taken to ensure that prospective law students’ rights were not violated and any tests were conducted in accordance with the law. 69 Bennett suggests a need for law students to ‘swear an oath of integrity’ when they start law school. 70 The importance of integrity above material success must be emphasized to law students. 71
This discussion concerning law schools and integrity has been ongoing for a long time, stretching back more than at least eight decades. 72 According to White, law school is a ‘systematic introduction’ for prospective lawyers, where law students must learn about the importance of integrity among all the other aspects of the profession. 73 Bennett encourages the use of various activities to increase ethical awareness and commitment from law students from the start, such as student orientation activities and seminars. 74 Furthermore, Bennett believes that ethics could be introduced in almost all law school courses and assignments. 75
According to Jenkins integrity is displayed in the words one chooses. 76 Jenkins believes that a person’s word selection must reflect their integrity. 77 This is very relevant to law schools because these institutions have the ability to educate law students with integrity. 78 For instance, when creating legal products and services, it is essential to include words reflecting the value of integrity. Moreover, integrity can be introduced in research activities. 79 For example, law schools should educate students not to commit plagiarism. 80 Students who participate in legal clinics have the opportunity to apply their integrity values from law school into practice. 81 Participating in extracurricular activities such as becoming law review teams can also assist law students in forming the value of integrity in themselves. 82 At President University in Indonesia, there are courses called ‘Emotional Intelligence for Lawyers’ and ‘Statespersonship: Pancasila, Citizenship, Religion, and Indonesian Language’, which could be linked to developing student integrity. 83
Become More Competitive but with Integrity
According to Hamzah, when AHP engages in a litigation, the law firm makes an effort to learn about the judge’s prior rulings, the school of jurisprudence that the judge follows, the books that the judge reads, and even the font size that the judge prefers. 84 During litigations, AHP also attempts to condense lengthy papers into concise summaries, and to process data into visually appealing explanations. 85 These ‘creative’ (‘kreatif’) and ‘innovation’ (‘inovasi’) measures are necessary to ensure the competitiveness of a law firm and uphold its integrity. 86 Hamzah claims that law students would not need to attend law school if a lawyer’s job was only to pay bribes. 87
Many lawyers in the United States agree that creativity is crucial for the success of their jobs. 88 How, then, can we inspire creativity in lawyers? Goshtasbi recommends engaging in activities that increase creativity. 89 According to Goshtasbi, the capacity to think creatively can have a beneficial financial impact on law firms. 90 In contrast, law firms that are unable to adapt to new developments are likely to face issues in the firms’ journey. 91 Polden emphasizes the significance of leadership in law firms in driving innovation. 92
According to a survey carried out by Law Practice Management in collaboration with Astin Tarlton, 22% of respondents indicated that innovation in law firms is ‘extremely difficult’, and 48% said that innovation in law firms is ‘difficult’. 93 The respondents included lawyers, clients and individuals in other positions related to the activity of lawyers. 94 The survey also found that ‘resistance to change’ was cited as the primary cause of innovation obstacles by 34% of respondents, while ‘no time for anything that is [not] billable’ was cited by 20%. 95 Furthermore, the survey found that ‘individual initiative’ was cited as a source of innovative ideas by 36% of respondents, while ‘the competition’ was cited by 13% and ‘administrator or marketing staff’ by 11%. 96 When the respondents were asked to choose more than one answer to the question of what was most essential in terms of executing recent ideas in law firms, 76% selected ‘management support’, 49% said ‘a culture conducive to trying, failing, learning, and going on’ and 48% answered ‘a risk-taking advocate’. 97 ‘The opportunity to really make a difference’ was cited by 34% of respondents as the driver that most encouraged them to discover different activities. 98
To address a variety of difficulties, law firms such as Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe, Baker & McKenzie, and Holland & Knight have created specialized units for the development of innovation. 99 The need for positions such as ‘Chief Innovation Officer’ or senior officers in innovation is increasing across a variety of industries. 100 According to a survey in which leaders in corporations could select more than one response, the main issues for major companies to innovate are ‘politics, turf wars, and a lack of alignment’ (55%), ‘cultural issues’ (45%), ‘inability to act on signals crucial to the future of the business’ (42%), and ‘lack of budget’ (41%). 101 Goyette states that there are five factors that hinder innovation, these are: ‘unconscious neglect’, ‘overprotectiveness’, ‘overconfidence’, ‘overexertion’ and ‘devaluation’. 102 In the context of Indonesian law schools, courses that facilitate the development of innovation skills are essential.
Having a more diverse team may also inspire creativity and improve innovation in legal practice, according to Vandenack. 103 Diversity in organizations is also supported by other commentators. 104 Cultural brokers are needed on diverse teams in order to act as connectors between the various cultures that are represented. 105 Cultural brokers also need to be supported by related parties in implementing their parts. 106 Indonesian law schools that have a diverse environment could become places of practice where law students can increase their abilities to become cultural brokers with guidance from facilitators.
The capacity for creativity can be achieved by anyone. 107 According to Satell, the development of a person’s expertise, knowledge outside of a person’s main area of expertise, and the optimization of technology are keys to growing creativity. 108 Chamorro-Premuzic and Akhtar underline, among other things, the necessity for employees to be given the appropriate duties, located in a suitable team, and given rewards are essential to motivate creativity. 109 Indonesian law schools need to accommodate all law students to think creatively, and there are lessons to be learned from company practices that could be applied in law education. 110
Innovation is necessary for law schools that want to thrive. 111 Beyond law classrooms, law school centres and initiatives focusing on innovation and creativity could help increase law students’ capacities in these areas. 112 There is a course at President University titled ‘Psychology and Design Thinking for Lawyers’ that could be related to increasing creativity and innovation for law students. 113 This course is very relevant to AHP’s recommendation to present legal documents that are convenient and accessible for the recipients of these documents. 114 It is hoped that through the ‘Psychology and Design Thinking for Lawyers’ course, law students will be able to balance the law alongside creativity and innovation.
There is an opinion that not everyone likes the word ‘innovation’. 115 Because it is sometimes taken to mean additional responsibilities or even the termination of employment, the word ‘innovation’ is not always popularly received in the workplace. 116 Zhexembayeva suggests that it should be substituted by less intimidating terms such as the word ‘idea’ when communicating with employees, even though the objective, which is to innovate, stays the same. 117
Building the Ecosystem from Other Stakeholders
Outside the Indonesian context, a lawyer is a profession that has obligations to other relevant stakeholders inter alia the courts and the public, besides the lawyer’s client. 118 This is in line with the 2002 Code of Ethics for Indonesian Advocates, which states that advocates have responsibilities beginning with themselves and expanding to the nation-state. 119 In order to build an ecosystem of lawyers with integrity, all the relevant stakeholders should also have integrity. As explained above, law schools are one of the components of a broader ecosystem that promotes the integrity of lawyers.
Organizational leaders put ‘high ethical and moral standards’ (67%) out of 74 different traits (they could select multiple traits) for the question of ‘the most important leadership competencies’. 120 Leaders must ‘lead by example’ on integrity measures because their leadership integrity actions may be followed by the team under them. 121 Leaders who do not try to justify their actions and respect integrity will be better off in the long run. 122 Companies that value integrity must make it painless to report integrity-related concerns. 123 Integrity measures need to be carried out on a regular basis so that they become a behaviour pattern. 124
An article published in the mid-1990s made the prediction that compared with the law firms of the 1990s, the law firms of 2020 will experience a degradation in their level of integrity. 125 Law firm leaders need to set an example by upholding the value of integrity because subordinates pay attention to how their leaders behave, including determining whether their leaders have integrity. 126 It is important that law firms in Indonesia, which are lawyers’ workplaces, fully support this integrity issue. If law firms are rigorous in enforcing integrity, it should follow that their lawyers will do the same. 127 In the Indonesian context, a number of different law firms including AHP, LGS, SSEK and Makarim & Taira have underlined how important it is to maintain integrity in their firms. 128 If more law firms in Indonesia are able to follow in the footsteps of AHP, LGS, SSEK and Makarim & Taira, the integrity ecosystem of law firms in Indonesia will be strengthened.
According to PwC, 31% of fraud perpetrators come from inside organizations, 26% work in tandem with employees and third parties, and 43% originate from outside sources. 129 The combined percentage of fraud from inside organizations and fraud from the complicit of both inside and outside parties is 57%. 130 This high percentage of fraud at the internal level is seen as a result of leaders’ inability to address this issue. 131
A sustainable business cannot be separated from integrity. 132 A company’s lack of integrity will negatively impact the company itself. 133 Corporations that become clients of lawyers are also expected to prioritize integrity in running their business. Other law enforcers from the judicial (courts/judges) and executive (prosecutors and police officers) sides must also provide support in order to develop an ecosystem that fosters integrity. 134 The same can be said about the government and legislative bodies, both of which need to support the development of an ecosystem with integrity. 135
Conclusion
The level of competition for jobs in the legal industry in Indonesia will increase in the coming years compared with the past. The launch of ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, at the end of 2022, has already made a significant contribution to the accelerated progression of artificial intelligence. 136 According to OpenAI’s CEO, ‘adaptability and resilience’ are two traits that will be essential for us in the years to come. 137 Integrity in law schools and law firms has been presented as a subject of concern for many decades. 138 In the midst of this significant development in artificial intelligence, integrity is still required as an essential value to complement technological improvement. Besides increasing competitiveness through innovation and creativity as noted above in the previous section, integrity is a necessary requirement in the face of increasingly rapid technological development.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.