Ethics and Professional Practice PDF
Added on 2021-06-14
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Running Head: ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE0ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE1The legal profession has the most extensive ethical rules of any other profession in theworld. As per the professional standards, being a professional, lawyers play a role of officers of the courts1. An advocate has both a benefit and burden. The benefit is to get the chance of career in law stream as a member of the legal profession and the burden is to perform the obligations to apply law rules. While discussing the lawyer’s duty, it is found that they have various duties to the court, clients, society and fellow advocates2. It is a responsibility of lawyer to perform his duty to the court and it becomes mandatory to apply law rules3. It is also a duty of lawyer to assist the court in justifying the issues timely and in the most appropriate manner4. Upholding this duty to court makes the base of litigation (both civil and criminal)5.These duties require lawyers to act with competence, honestly, due diligence and due care. This ensures that lawyer has a duty to his client to raise issues and ask any questions. Sometimes this predominant duty creates clashes with lawyer’s duty towards their clients and court. But as per priority, lawyer’s duty to the court comes first and his duty to theclient becomes secondary.It is a well-known fact that law is a superior branch of a structured knowledge so lawyers are considered professionals. In this way it is more important that a lawyer must maintain proper professional standards in legal practice and emphasis on the element of public service consistent with the idea of professionalism6. It is the important duty of lawyer to continue the fair and self-regulated administration of justice without partiality. It makes a lawyer responsible to contribute in maintaining impartial administrative justice7. It is requiredby legal professionals that they should conduct themselves with integrity8. They should try to maintain public faith in court process9. In addition of these duties, an advocate is required to deal with fellow advocates with loyalty10. In this essay how a lawyer’s duty comes to the court first then second to the client is discussed and critically examined.Lawyers have certain duties to the court which defines a lawyer’s role. Firstly, lawyers should be well-mannered and civil. They should always speak and write in respectfulway. As per this rule, lawyers are not allowed for ex parte communication with the court (including judge’s staff) on any undecided matter by the written communication or telephone or letter or any other mean. They should comply with law and rules and act with honesty at the time of presentation in the court. Further, a lawyer can make remarks only to the judges not to the opposing council in court room and it is a duty of advocate not to communicate any1Paine Baron and Linton Corbin, Ethics and legal professionalism in Australia (Oxford, 2nded, 2016)2 G Dal Pont, Lawyer’s professional responsibility (4thed, 2010), 15.3Federal Court of Australia Act, 1976 (Cth) 4Federal Court of Australia Act 1976, s37N (1).5 Lawyer, A Lawyer’s duty towards the court (2013) <https://www.lawctopus.com/a-lawyers-duty-towards-the-court/>6Andrew Boon, Lawyer’s ethics and professional responsibility (Bloomsbury publishing, 2015)7RupertoKappunan., The lawyer’s duties to the legal profession (2017) <https://businessmirror.com.ph/the-lawyers-duties-to-the-legal-profession/>8David Rivkin, Maintaining lawyer’s integrity: message from IBA president (2016) https://www.chapman.edu/law/_files/publications/CLR-1-stephen-jones.pdfs9 Nathan Crystal, professional responsibility: problems of practice and the profession (Wolters Kluwer Law & Business, 2017)10Law society of Ontario, Integrity (2018) <https://www.lsuc.on.ca/integrity/>
ETHICS AND PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE2pending matters to the judge or any other judge privately and not to act illegally towards adverse party. It means if any lawyer noticed that other lawyer is making mistake and charging the extra fees from his client then lawyer should not do anything and draw the attention from this matter. They have also some rights and powers to make complaints against any judicial officer to the proper authorities11.In the context of legal practice, lawyers should follow dress code during legal proceeding but they are not allowed to wear that gowns or bands in public places except court, ceremonial occasions and law council of Australia. The main thing is to care that lawyers should be punctual and should not enter in any manner which diminishes the dignity or decorum of the court. Lawyers are not allowed to practice in the court where their parents or any nearest relative is magistrate. As per the rule, advocates cannot appear before judicial authority against the establishment in which they are member of management. But this rule isnot applicable to the lawyer who does not take fee on the behalf of law council of Australia, Australia bar association12. As per the Legal profession conduct rules 2010 of Legal Profession Act 2008, lawyer should boost faith of public in judiciary and should not have financial interest in the matter assigned to him. For example, if a lawyer is a director in any company then he cannot take brief from that company. The Lawyers should take care of thing that they should always accept the requests which are appropriate regarding trial dates, adjourned cases. It is clear thatlawyers can expand the administration of justice by performing all the duties to the court13.Generally, when someone faces any legal problem, a reliable lawyer is required by him who can solve his case quickly and give effective remedies on reasonable fee. In this reference some Legal Profession Conduct Rules 2010 have been placed under Legal Profession Act, 200814. These rules define secondary duty of lawyer to the client. An advocate should perform these defined duties in proper manner so as to keep the healthy relations with client15. As lawyers and his client have fiduciary relationship16. It is a duty of lawyer not to disclose their client’s information to other person unless lawyers are permitted by their client to disclose his information. But a lawyer may disclose the information to the person if disclosure of information is required by law. It means lawyer can disclose about his client as per the permission of law. Further it is a duty of lawyer to inform a client about his rights, powers and the matters related to their relationship. They should also keep informed their client about the progress on the matters of client but wrong information should not be given about his client during civil proceedings. It is main duty of care to client that an advocate should not hurt client’s interest by his acts or any error or blunders. If an advocate receives the money on the behalf of his client then it is necessary to inform his client about 11Micheal Frost, Introduction to Classical Legal Rhetoric: A Lost Heritage (Routledge, 2017)12Ibid 13Legal Profession Act, 2008 (WA)14 Ibid15Jonathan Herring, Legal Ethics (Oxford university press, 2017)16David Dietrich, Lawyers owe fiduciary duty to client(2018) <https://www.wisbar.org/newspublications/wisconsinlawyer/pages/>
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