Introduction
Being ethical is a fundamental part of the legal profession. It’s not enough to just know the law. You also need to know how to apply it ethically. The Rules of Professional Conduct are what guide lawyers in how they should behave, but it’s up to each individual lawyer to make sure that their actions live up to those rules.
Lawyer Ethics
As a lawyer, you have a duty to act ethically. The law imposes this obligation on lawyers because it’s important for everyone involved in the legal system–lawyers and clients alike–to know that they can trust their lawyer’s advice and actions. This trust is necessary so that people will continue using lawyers as advisors and advocates in their cases.
In addition to protecting clients from unethical behavior by other attorneys, ethics rules help ensure fairness within the judicial system itself: if judges know that all attorneys are acting ethically and honestly during court proceedings, then those judges will be able to make fair decisions without worrying about whether one side or another might have been cheating during discovery or preparing its case at trial.
Client Trust
As a lawyer, you have a duty to keep your client’s information confidential. The rules of professional conduct require you to be honest with clients and not mislead them. You also cannot steal from clients or use their money for personal gain.
In addition to these duties, there are other ways in which you can maintain trust with your client:
- Keep clear records of communication between yourself and the client so that all parties know what has been said or done on behalf of the client if necessary (for example, if there is ever an issue about billing).
- Always act in accordance with ethical standards when representing clients’ interests; do not take advantage of any loophole or technicality that might allow something illegal but technically legal under current rules (e.g. accepting fees without actually doing any work).
Client Communication
Client communication is the cornerstone of your job as an attorney. It makes your job easier by getting rid of any ambiguity that might exist and allows you to Build Strong Relationships with your clients.
- Make sure you are clear about what the client wants to achieve.
- Make sure you are clear about what you can achieve for them.
- Ask the client if they understand the information you have given them and make sure they know what they need to do next (including any deadlines). If necessary, give additional information or examples that may help clarify your advice or recommendations.
- Ask the client if there is anything else they want to discuss before ending your meeting/call/email exchange
Ethical Representation of Clients
As an attorney, it is your duty to represent your client in the best way possible. This means that you must be ethical in all of your actions and decisions. You can do this by ensuring that you represent your client with integrity, honesty and fairness at all times.
You should also avoid conflicts of interest between yourself and other parties involved in the case since this could lead to bias on behalf of either party involved in litigation or criminal proceedings (e.g., witnesses).
Read more: Why Conflict of Interest Recognition and Disclosure is Important
Ethical Dilemmas
Ethical dilemmas are not always easy to spot. They can be challenging, stressful and difficult to resolve. Ethical principles are general rules that apply in all circumstances, but they do not tell you what to do in every situation.
Therefore, it is important when faced with an ethical dilemma that you look at your client’s situation from all angles before making any decisions about how best to proceed. The first step is understanding what the law says about your client’s case; if there are no clear answers in black-and-white language then you may need some help from another lawyer or legal scholar who has more experience with this type of problem than yourself.
Lawyers’ Duties to Clients
Your duty to your client is to act competently, fairly and honestly. This means that you must:
- Make sure that the lawyer’s advice is correct and complete;
- Keep your client informed about what is going on in the case (and make sure any other lawyers involved do the same);
- Protect your client’s confidences;
- Keep property belonging to someone else separate from yours;
Lawyers’ Duties to the Court
- Lawyers must act with candor and integrity.
- Lawyers must provide accurate and complete information to the court.
- Lawyers must avoid conflicts of interest that interfere with their independent professional judgment or might lead to exploitation of a client (or other party).
- Lawyers must not knowingly mislead the court by any means, including making false statements of fact or law, improperly concealing documents or other material information from opposing counsel, failing to disclose adverse legal authority in advance of its argumentation before a tribunal where required by rule, statute or practice; presenting facts selectively so as to play on sympathy for one side over another; engaging in conduct intended to disrupt an opponent’s preparation for trial.
Lawyers’ Duties to Colleagues and Others
- Avoid conflicts of interest. As a lawyer, you have a duty to avoid conflicts of interest with your current clients and former clients. This includes avoiding any situation where the interests of one client may be adverse to another client’s interests. For example, if two clients hire you at the same time and ask for opposing outcomes (one wants you to help him sue someone else, while another wants you to defend against this lawsuit), then this would be an obvious conflict of interest: You cannot represent both parties without violating their rights under legal ethics rules that require lawyers act only in their clients’ best interests.
- You also cannot represent yourself as an individual in court when there is some reason why doing so might harm another client’s case or cause other problems for them–for example, if one of your business partners sues another partner over some financial dispute between them; if either party hires an attorney who happens not only be represented by but also share office space with their opponent’s attorney (so long as both sides agree); or if all three parties are represented by different firms but appear together before certain courts due not only because they share offices but because each firm has agreed beforehand upon how they will jointly present themselves during such appearances.
Conclusion
- Learn from the mistakes of others. If you’re new to being an ethical lawyer, it can be tempting to think that everything will be okay if you do your best and follow the rules. But even if you’re careful with your work, there are still plenty of ways for things to go wrong–and those who have been around longer than you know how those mistakes happen. Listen when they share their stories; they’ll help keep things on track for everyone involved in your case (and prevent future mishaps).
- Be aware of your own ethical blind spots. Even if another person has made all the same choices as yourself without any issues arising from them, there may still be some area where their decision-making differs from yours–and this difference could cause problems later on (or even right now). Consider what kind of advice would’ve helped avoid these kinds of situations before they occurred; then make sure that advice is followed by everyone involved so no one gets into trouble later!
- Don’t be afraid to ask questions when something seems off: If someone gives advice or says something during a meeting that doesn’t sound quite right but isn’t clear enough yet either way–ask them about it! Remember: You don’t need permission or approval from anyone else before making decisions based upon personal beliefs/values system since these things come first regardless how well aligned they might seem with common practices within traditional legal systems.
- Communicate with your Clients – Speak to your clients regularly and make sure nothing stays ambiguous after your meetings. This helps clients to trust your practice and improves Client Retention.
That’s it, You are now an ethical lawyer!
