Legal Ethics
A lawyer is an officer of the court and must maintain a high standard of professional conduct. There are legal duties which govern the conduct of a lawyer.
His first duty is to see that his client gets the benefit of all the rights which he is entitled to under the law. Neither fear, judicial disfavor nor public popularity should restrain an attorney from the full discharge of this duty. The client expects him to raise defenses and to assert all remedies authorized by law. The attorney cannot do anything under the ethics of his profession which might jeopardize his client’s interest.
The client must steadfastly keep in mind that the great trust of a lawyer is to be performed within and not without the bounds of the law. The client shall not expect that a lawyer in the discharge of his duties should violate the law or resort in any manner to fraud or chicanery. A lawyer is not permitted to engage in fraud or misconduct even for the benefit of his client.
There exists a confidential relationship between a lawyer and his client. A lawyer is a professional man trained to keep unto himself all secrets and confidences that have been communicated to him. They must be kept not only for the present but for all times to come.
You should give your lawyer all the facts concerning the case you take to him and make a full disclosure of the entire situation. You may even confess a crime to him, since such a confession is considered a privileged communication and he cannot divulge it. He needs all the facts you can give him because application of the law varies with each fact and circumstance concerning a case.
A client is only hurting himself and his cause when he withholds facts from his attorney. The keeping of secrets and confidences is routine procedure for an attorney.
A client should not think that his attorney is “selling him down the river” if outside of the courtroom, or in courtroom during a recess, the attorney appears to be on friendly terms with opposing counsel. The chances are ten to one that your case is not being discussed at all between counsels or your attorney may be endeavoring to obtain some agreement favorable to you.
The canons of the legal profession admonish lawyers that they should avoid litigation when the controversy will admit a fair adjustment. Consequently, you must not consider your lawyer timorous or cowardly when he suggests a settlement or compromise. You must not feel that your lawyer is disloyal to your cause when he urges a settlement which will admit of a fair adjustment. Actually, most of the civil controversies handled by lawyers are settled without a trial or during the course of a trial.
One of the canons of ethics of the legal profession prohibits a lawyer from communicating upon a subject of controversy with a party represented by counsel. This is good common sense and is also based upon the proprieties of courtesy. Counsel should not go behind opposing counsel’s back to talk with a party. For example, if you have a lawyer representing you, you should not expect opposing counsel to talk with you. The rule, of course, works both ways. Thus, you should not expect your lawyer to talk to the opposing party who is represented by counsel.
A lawyer is a person who handles the legal problems of others. In this respect he is like the banker who handles other people’s money and the minister who handles other people’s spiritual problems.
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