You Mean to Say Lawyers Have Ethics?

What are Legal Ethics?

Legal ethics are the rules that lawyers swear to abide by when they become lawyers.  The rules can vary from state to state, but they tend to be pretty similar. If you are interested in Pennsylvania's rules, you can find them online at the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board's website.

What Do the Ethical Rules Cover?

The legal ethics rules cover myriad situations, including:

• Clients
• Potential Clients
• Former Clients
  
• Fees
• Confidentiality
• Conflicts of Interest
• Competence
• Advertising
• Honesty & Integrity

When a lawyer takes the oath, she agrees that she will obey the ethical rules of every state in which she is licensed.

What are Common Issues?

Communication

The most common complaint I see, and the one that most commonly ends up before the Disciplinary Board, is failure to communicate. Lawyers are expected to communicate within a reasonable time period. I like to return calls the same day, if I am able to and no later than 24 hours if I am in the office.  If I am away, it might take me a couple of days, but I try to respond as soon as I am able.  Regardless of an attorney's schedule, clients should not have to go weeks or months without getting a response.

Fees

Another common problem surrounds fees. But fee disputes are not normally ethical issues. Rather, they are simply a disagreement between a lawyer and his client that can hopefully be resolved through mutual communication or arbitration.

Competence

A crucial issue when it comes to legal practice is competence. Lawyers are expected to be competent in the areas in which they take on clients. If a lawyer does not know an area, he needs to either send the case to someone else, or educate himself to the level where he can competently handle it on his client's behalf.

Legal Malpractice v Ethics

Just because a lawyer violates the ethical rules does not mean he has committed legal malpractice. Nor does committing malpractice mean a lawyer has violated the ethical rules. Sometimes the two intersect, and sometimes they do not. For more information about malpractice, see an article I wrote on legal malpractice for my firm's website. But essentially, for legal malpractice to occur the lawyer must have violated the legal standard of care, and in doing so, directly caused you serious damage.

Make Sure You Pick the Right Lawyer

Most lawyers are very ethical and do their best to represent their clients. In fact, many times problems arise due to miscommunication more than anything else.  As a result, it is important that you make certain you choose a lawyer with whom you are comfortable. Doing so will go a long way to setting up a positive relationship for your future together as attorney and client.