A local attorney has learnt the hard way that ethical standards don’t change just because you cross a national border. And that complete transparency, especially about your professional status, is always a fundamental requirement.

The case concerns lawyer Peter Watson, who wanted to practise in Namibia. He applied for exemption from Namibia’s board for legal education, but there was a precondition: the applicant’s name must appear on a “list, register or roll” of legal practitioners kept by the relevant authority of the country where they had been practising...