A licensee acts as a faithful agent or trustee for each client and employer, being honest, protecting confidential information, disclosing and avoiding conflicts of interest, and not accepting undisclosed compensation from more than one party on the same work. These duties are real, but they remain subordinate to the paramount duty to the public.
Toward the public, the practitioner must be objective and truthful in statements and not issue misleading professional opinions. Toward other practitioners, there is a duty of fair professional conduct, not to injure a colleague's reputation maliciously, and to give due notice when reviewing or taking over another's work.
- Reviewing another's work: when retained to review or replace a colleague, the usual ethical step is to inform that practitioner (notice), unless doing so is impractical or barred, courtesy and transparency.
- Confidentiality to a client/employer yields when public safety genuinely requires disclosure.
- Conflict of interest must be disclosed promptly and fully; concealment is the breach, not the conflict itself.
Memory hook: Be a faithful agent to client and employer, but the public outranks them both. Review a peer's work? Give notice first.