The Ethical Lawyer

Delving into some of the most challenging issues to confront legal professionals, this book raises important questions about what it means to be an ethical lawyer in Canada

The law, Holmes said, is no brooding omnipresence in the sky. "If that is true," writes David Luban, "it is because we encounter the legal system in the form of flesh-and-blood human beings: the police if we are unlucky, but for the (marginally) luckier majority, the lawyers." For practical purposes, the lawyers are the law. In this comprehensive study of legal ethics, Luban examines the conflict between common morality and the lawyer's "role morality" under the adversary system and how this conflict becomes a social and political problem for a community. Using real examples and drawing extensively on case law, he develops a systematic philosophical treatment of the problem of role morality in legal practice. He then applies the argument to the problem of confidentiality, outlines an affordable system of legal services for the poor, and provides an in-depth philosophical treatment of ethical problems in public interest law.

The Ethical Lawyer: Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility is a guide to ethical conduct and client care which traces the developments in the field of legal ethics and professional responsibility that have occurred in New Zealand over the past 20 years and examines what it means to be an ethical lawyer in New Zealand today.The book also provides a highly readable resource for learning the rules governing professional conduct. Its primary purpose is to (a) focus on the key ethical issues that lawyers encounter on a day-to-day basis in their practices, and (b) give lawyers an easy-to-follo.

Frequently the ethical attorney finds himself in a position where he can no longer reconcile con-flicting responsibilities he owes to his clients with those he owes so-ciety and himself. Faced with the dilemma of choice among coun-tervailing and competing obliga-tions, he has little training and precedence to guide him. If he is over forty, the overwhelming probability is that he never took a course on legal ethics; if he looks for a general, up-to-date text to provide insight, he will look in vain. Nor is there a developed body of case law from which to glean an appropriate course of action.This vacuum of authoritative formulations of responsible be-havior is a matter of concern not only to the legal profession, but to all sectors of American society. Lawyers shape the mores and thoughts of all of us. Their will is exerted not only in modifying our national institutions, but ulti-mately our individual, personal sense of values.This volume serves two impor-tant purposes: it provides the interested professional and lay reader with an appreciation of thespectrum of the ethical dilemmas confronting the legal profession, and it provides a sense of balance about the competing consid-erations present in each of these dilemmas. At a time when the legal profession is under attack both from within and without, this book represents some of the best critical thinking by lawyers about their role and responsibilities in American society.

Ethics and regulation have become catchwords of the late 1990s, yet relatively little has been written about the ethical discourse and regulation of the legal professions in England and Wales. This book represents the first attempt to subject the ethical discourse of the English legal professions to in-depth analysis and sustained critique. Drawing on insights from moral philosophy, social theory, the sociology of the legal profession, public law theories of regulation, and the extensive American literature on lawyers' ethics, it argues that, in seeking to provide definitive answers to particular problems of professional conduct, professional legal ethics has failed to deliver an approach which requires lawyers actively to engage with the ethical issues raised by legal practice. Through an analysis of the core issues facing lawyers, the authors locate this failure in the profession's reliance on a liberal and adversarial role morality that conceptualises the ethical values of human dignity, autonomy and equality in a formalistic and narrowly legalistic manner. This encourages lawyers to overlook the real invasions of these values so often wrought by upholding clients legal rights, and to ignore the competing claims of affected third parties, the wider community and the environment In seeking to move beyond critique, the authors develop throughout the book a contextual approach to individual ethical decision-making and outline a range of institutional, regulatory and educational reforms which, they suggest, could form the basis for a more ethical brand of professionalism. Professional Legal Ethics: Critical Interrogations is a wide-ranging and thought-provoking analysis written for lawyers, ethicists and policy-makers interested in this neglected area of professional ethics and regulation.

Inside Lawyers' Ethics is a lively and practical values-based analysis of the moral dilemmas that lawyers face. It gives lawyers the confidence to understand and actively improve their ethical priorities and behaviour when confronted with major ethical challenges. It identifies the applicable law and conduct rules and analyses them in the context of four different types of ethical lawyering: zealous advocacy, responsible lawyering, moral activism and the ethics of care. This new edition is fully updated, with a new chapter on confidentiality and new case studies and review questions. This edition also contains a self-assessment instrument designed to allow readers to recognise the type of lawyering that most appeals to them. Inside Lawyers' Ethics promotes self-awareness and offers a positive and enriching approach to problem solving, rather than one based on the 'don't get caught' principle. It is essential reading for students of law and newly qualified legal practitioners.

In Connecting Ethics and Practice: A Lawyer’s Guide to Professional Responsibility, Second Edition, Katerina Lewinbuk explains the legal, professional, and ethical constraints that regulate attorneys, while keeping the modern law professor and student in mind. Contemporary cases and articles are used to provide for an easier understanding of the Model Rules and Judicial Cannons, which assists in preparing for law school exams and the MPRE. The author employs a user-friendly coursebook format organized in a logical manner, while achieving a realistic and manageable length. Mind-maps are provided with every chapter to help students visualize and remember selected rules, and discussion questions are used to allow the students to fully comprehend and digest the reading, while also demonstrating real-life struggles most lawyers face at some point in their career. Based on the unique format, students systematically cover all important aspects of the legal journey from law school to the legal profession. New to the Second Edition: Two-color format and new design add visual appeal Revised chapters contain contemporary cases, discussions, and studies Updates include recent changes to the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct New coverage includes: Discussion of the ethical issue relating to Judge Kavanaugh hearings Recent famous case of McCoy v. Louisiana New statistics re: women in the legal profession and malpractice claims against lawyers Professors and students will benefit from: The easy-to-follow logical sequence of all relevant rules that are clearly articulated at the beginning of the book and then reiterated accordingly in every chapter Structured material that is well-suited for a new or experienced professor Chapters based on quality readings as opposed to quantity Engaging, realistic examples that exhibit how each Rule relates to practice Simple, consistent organization of each chapter—offering a clear, logical layout and allowing for ease of use and teaching throughout Chapter introductions that begin with concise explanations of the applicable Rules to be discussed Controversial, contemporary, and thought-provoking readings Discussion questions at the end of each reading, as well as at the end of each chapter, that encourage colorful and lively dialogue and participation Table of Model Rules with applicable page numbers for easy reference

This text discusses the moral obligations and responsibilities of the lawyer in the relationship with the client. It also examines the ethical aspects of different areas of the law and legal practice.