CP Ethics & Professional Standards 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A registered parliamentarian is hired by an organization that later asks them to rule a motion out of order for political reasons rather than procedural ones. What is the ethical course of action?
- Comply with the client's request to maintain the relationship
- Refuse and explain that rulings must be based on parliamentary law, not politics (Correct answer)
- Abstain from making any ruling
- Resign immediately without explanation
Correct answer: Refuse and explain that rulings must be based on parliamentary law, not politics
Parliamentarians must base all rulings on established parliamentary law and procedure, not on the political preferences of the client.
Question 2: Which principle best describes a parliamentarian's duty when two factions within the same client organization seek contradictory advice?
- Side with the majority faction
- Provide advice that serves the organization's governing documents and parliamentary law impartially (Correct answer)
- Decline to advise either faction
- Seek guidance from NAP or AIP leadership
Correct answer: Provide advice that serves the organization's governing documents and parliamentary law impartially
A parliamentarian's loyalty is to correct parliamentary procedure and the organization as a whole, not to any internal faction.
Question 3: What must a CP disclose before accepting an engagement with a new client whose interests may conflict with an existing client?
- Nothing, as each client relationship is confidential
- The conflict of interest, so both clients can give informed consent or the parliamentarian can decline (Correct answer)
- Only the name of the existing client
- The fee structure of the prior engagement
Correct answer: The conflict of interest, so both clients can give informed consent or the parliamentarian can decline
Ethical practice requires full disclosure of conflicts of interest so clients can make informed decisions about representation.
Question 4: A parliamentarian serving as parliamentarian-of-record overhears a board member planning to introduce a fraudulent motion. The most ethical response is to:
- Warn the board chair privately before the meeting (Correct answer)
- Publicly accuse the board member during the meeting
- Say nothing, as it is not yet a procedural issue
- Resign the engagement immediately
Correct answer: Warn the board chair privately before the meeting
Privately alerting the presiding officer allows proper procedural and legal safeguards without overstepping the parliamentarian's advisory role.
Question 5: Under the NAP Code of Ethics, a parliamentarian who discovers a client's bylaws contain an illegal provision should:
- Enforce the provision since bylaws supersede parliamentary law
- Advise the client of the illegality and recommend corrective amendment (Correct answer)
- Ignore the provision if it does not affect the immediate meeting
- Notify the state attorney general directly
Correct answer: Advise the client of the illegality and recommend corrective amendment
Parliamentarians have a professional duty to advise clients when their governing documents conflict with applicable law.
Question 6: A CP charges a flat consulting fee. During an engagement the scope expands significantly beyond the original agreement. The ethical standard requires:
- Complete the additional work without charge to honor the original agreement
- Renegotiate fees transparently with the client before proceeding with expanded work (Correct answer)
- Bill the additional work at double the normal rate without notice
- Withdraw from the engagement
Correct answer: Renegotiate fees transparently with the client before proceeding with expanded work
Professional ethics require transparent fee renegotiation when scope materially changes, protecting both client and parliamentarian.
Question 7: When a CP is asked to testify as an expert witness in litigation involving a former client, what ethical consideration is paramount?
- Loyalty to the former client overrides all other duties
- Confidentiality obligations to the former client must be respected unless legally compelled to testify (Correct answer)
- Expert witness fees waive all prior confidentiality duties
- The CP must refuse all expert witness roles
Correct answer: Confidentiality obligations to the former client must be respected unless legally compelled to testify
Confidentiality duties to former clients persist and must be carefully weighed against any legal compulsion to testify.
CP Ethics & Professional Standards 2
A registered parliamentarian is hired by an organization that later asks them to rule a motion out of order for political reasons rather than procedural ones.
What is the ethical course of action?