Also known as: laws of lawyering · legal ethics · professional responsibility
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
The body of rules and standards that govern the professional conduct of lawyers. It regulates relationships among lawyers, clients, courts, the profession, and the public through disciplinary rules, statutes, and case law.
Lillian Locke, a solo practitioner, spends sixty hours one year representing low-income tenants in eviction cases without charging fees. Because she has fulfilled the professional responsibility to deliver uncompensated legal services to persons of limited means, her conduct satisfies the aspirational standard even though the work generates no income.
Lucas Lee, in-house counsel at Lakeshore Industries, refuses his employer's order to approve shipment of products he knows violate safety regulations. After Lakeshore fires him, Lucas sues for retaliatory discharge. The court dismisses the claim because the lawyer's ethical duty to withdraw rather than assist unlawful conduct already protects the public policy at stake.
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It includes statutes such as 28 U.S.C. § 653(b) that impose professional responsibility standards on neutrals in court-annexed ADR and common-law decisions that determine whether a lawyer may sue a client or former employer for actions taken to comply with ethical duties.
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Yes. Each lawyer bears independent responsibility under the rules. A subordinate may follow a supervisor's reasonable resolution of an arguable question but cannot rely on instructions that require clear misconduct such as withholding plainly responsive discovery or filing a false statement.
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When the lawyer fails to take reasonable measures to inform clients that the services are not legal services and that attorney-client protections do not apply. Factors include integrated agreements, unified billing, shared receptionists, and the absence of written disclaimers separating the law-related services from legal representation.
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Yes. A lawyer who provides legal services in a state subjects herself to that state's disciplinary authority even if she never appears in court or holds a license there. The same conduct may expose the lawyer to discipline in multiple jurisdictions.
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