Examining the Latest Legal Developments and their Impact

Tag: Lawyers and Ethics

Lawyer Ethics

Lawyer Ethics Issues

Within the legal profession, it is not unusual for lawyers to run across a host of ethical challenges. They may face constant pressure to increase their billable hours, or their desperation to win a case may lead them to withhold evidence that must be disclosed to opposing counsel. They may be encouraged to do anything they can to win a case, regardless of ethical implications. As a result, lawyers need to be especially vigilant with the rules of professional responsibility to avoid ethics rules violations.

Every state bar association maintains its own rules of professional responsibility for lawyers. It is up to the law firms themselves to make sure that their attorneys adhere to these rules. In a sense, their duty to these rules sits above any and all other responsibilities. Essentially, legal ethics rules demand that lawyers refrain from criminal behavior, handle all payments legally, communicate effectively with their clients, and avoid defrauding anyone.

Attorney Misconduct in the News

Attorney Misconduct in the NewsAttorney Misconduct is an actual thing – and a large problem in the United States.  This type of a misconduct deals with a higher authority figure, like a lawyer, doing seedy things like accepting bribes, coercing testimonies, even offering sexual advances to help someone with a case or win a case.  It’s a sad world that we live in, when we have to deal with something as bad as Attorney Misconduct because a lawyer is essentially someone we are supposed to trust; someone that is supposed to look out for us and help us in a situation that we may be in.  If you’ve ever wondered about what Attorney Misconduct means exactly or you wanted some real life news stories, this is the article for you!  Below, we will be discussing news stories from the past few months that have been going on that revolve around misconduct and attorneys.

What is Legal Misconduct?

Attorney MisconductLegal misconduct, also known as Attorney Misconduct relates to an attorney – who is licensed, that breaks certain laws or that break conduct roles.  Every single country has its own set of standards, so therefore every situation is going to be different overall, but what we’re going to be talking about in this article, relates to lawyers in the United States.  Beyond just criminal or civil punishment, if the attorney does something really bad, they can actually have a severe punishment that could get their license taken away, disbarment, or even jail time.

Lawyers and Ethics

 

The term legal ethics in the US is usually associated to lawyers, but to be honest, legal ethics can really be relevant to anyone that is involved in law such as paralegals, as well as other careers that might seem not to relevant like Private Investigators. If you aren’t really familiar with legal ethics, you might think this is a list made up of a bunch of rules that is designed for everyone to follow, but it’s not. In fact, legal ethics are usually written, regulated and designed for and by specific states. This is also the reason why when you practice and pass the Bar Exam for Pennsylvania, you must also take it again to be able to give legal advice or work as a lawyer in another state such as New Jersey. Every single state is completely different and governs their own rules, regulations and guidelines when it comes to rules of ethics. These rules of ethics are for a variety of legal topics including but not limited to: