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Professional Responsibility

Q- What does it mean to be a lawyer?

1- Is the practice of law a profession or a business?

2- Do lawyers have clients or clients have lawyers?

Almost everyone will define the lawyer as a person who studied law and got the license to practice the law as an attorney. However, it will differ when asking what does it mean being a lawyer. Being a lawyer needs every individual to identify it because each lawyer has his own experience and thoughts. Further, even with the same person, the meaning may change after more practicing. For me, being a lawyer is not just obeying what is said on the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, but it’s more about being a human who cares about his moral traditions that he strongly believes that it’s the right things to do or not to do.

However, each person has his/her own perspective and goals since entering the law school. Similar to the idea of being a lawyer, those goals may change whether the person sees the practice of law as a profession or as a business. Some people might think that lawyers who think about the practice of law as a profession care more about this legal profession. They have more feelings that they must give the best not only because they must be zealous advocates but also to keep the profession clean. Further, their priority is justice by making a difference in someone’s life in a good way and fees come later, but that does not mean that they will always work pro bono for free. On the other hand, some people think that lawyers who think about the practice of law as a business are working for money. While it does not mean that those attorneys are not zealous advocates, it means that their goal is collecting more money as they are working hard in a case and dealing with the practice of law as just a service that people who need it pay for it. For me, I can see the practice of law as a profession and as a business. I see the practice of law as a profession if I am working in a criminal case. For example, when I have to represent a girl who was raped, I would work as hard as I can to win the case and have the criminal get the punishment without having care about the fees even if I have to work all of the day because that will help not only my client, but also the whole society by preventing those types of crimes due to my role as an attorney in this case and because I practice from the perspective of the fundamental purpose of the profession “justice” . On the other hand, I would deal with the practice of law as a business when I work in commerce or business matter case. Where there is no criminal or victim and there is only money and a huge amount of money. I would work as hard as I can to get the best for my client and as a result I would like to get the fees I deserve due to my great job.

As a lawyer, I must have the power to decide whether I want to have clients or I want the clients to have me. I can build my future and choose what I want to be. Whether I want to have my own law firm and have people come so I have clients, or I want to be hired by a corporation or a family and work for them for years as their lawyer is my choice. In other words, it differs depending on where I am working and whom I am working for. If I choose to have my own law firm then I will be the lawyer who have clients. While if I choose to work for a corporation for example then the corporation will have me as a lawyer. Moreover, whether lawyers have clients or clients have lawyers could be known from who is controlling the relationship and who is giving the instructions.

The most important part of being a lawyer for me is that I am a person of faith. Before being a lawyer, I have been born with a religion and believes. I have been learning what is the right and what is the wrong based on my religion. What is moral and what is not moral. I have been learning to be always aware of what I must do in every particular situation because there will be always a punishment for any violation. Thus, being a lawyer is not only a fear of losing my license when I violate the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, but also a fear of the “ God’s ” punishment along with the remorse of conscience that everyone should have even without any religion.

Being a lawyer is being a human. A human who has feelings and emotions. Although sometimes is not easy to think about a case from the point of view of a normal person not of the perspective of a lawyer, humanity must always be there with us as lawyers because we are all humans and humans are not perfect. I believe that each person has two sides, the good and the evil and even if someone has committed something wrong according to the law we should assume to some extent the person's good side.

Being a lawyer is keeping every information between me and my client confidential. As a lawyer, I must keep all of the information related to the case on the office and nothing should be talked about outside the office or with a third party unless I was permitted before the client to disclose. As a lawyer, I should be aware that the information from the client about the case is not the right bed time story to read it to my child, and it is not the funniest joke to tell someone on an elevator or to chat about on the bus. However, I should know when to disclose and when the confidentiality should stop. All from Model Rules 1.6 (b) of Professional Conduct. The lawyer here is permitted and not required to disclose. Here will matter wither I am practicing the law here as a profession or as a business. Also, Rule 1.6 prohibits the reveal of any information relating to the representation, whatever its source, in comment 3, while it allows the using of hypothetical in comment 4 as long as it is not possible for someone to know who is the client. Finally, confidentiality never ends even if the case ends according to Rule 1.6 comment 20.

Being a lawyer is a privilege. Privilege maximize the social goods, and the attorney client privilege has similar importance to confidentiality. Privilege is a very necessary for the client to encourage the client to find a confide lawyer, and it is very important so the client gives his lawyer all of the details without having any fear that this lawyer will disclose the information or use it against the clients. For example, be a witness against the client. In order to obtain a privilege, the information must be related to a “legal counseling, advice, or any services that lawyers do in their professional capacity” [footnoteRef:1]. For that reasons, lawyer must be aware to know who is his client. Is it the manger in a corporation or the corporation itself. Is it a member of a family or the whole family. It is very important to know who is my client so I know who holds the privilege. Rule 1.13 (A) mentions that when the representing an organization, the organization holds the privilege However, privilege can be waived by the client. [1: Rhode & Luban, p.265 ]

Being a lawyer means being honest. As a lawyer, I must be honest with myself before being honest with my client. Law profession relies on the reputation, and honesty in everything helps in building better reputation that leads to put the lawyer in a high position in the profession. Nothing better than being famous for having been doing the good. Further, as a lawyer, I may have clients who have been using my services for years. Thus, they may be familiar with the other clients who I have had worked for, or with my family members or friends. However, I may have new clients who do not know

anything about my former clients or my family or friends and may need me to represent them in case where they have a dispute with one I am in relationship with. In this case, it is my duty to be honest with my clients and make him/her aware of that conflict of interests. The conflict may occur in many ways. For example, it may be between multiple clients or between former clients in Rule 1.9 or between me as a lawyer and the client. Conflict of interests all is covered by Rules 1.7, 1.8, 1.9, 1.10, 1.11, 1.18, 3.9, 6.1, 6.3, 6.4. Further, being honest not only if there is a conflict, but honest about everything related to the case and could affect the client. For example, the lawyer should inform the client about the low probability of violation in his/her compliance counseling of the client because the client has the right to be aware of things related to his/her case even if the chance of being affected is low and the lawyer think it does not worth informing. Because the lawyer thinks from the perspective of a lawyer, the client does not. Moreover, honesty is respecting the client's capacity and do not take an advantage of it as in Rule 1.14.

Another part of being honest is having integrity. I must be very honest with my client. I should not take the powerful side and take an advantage of my client’s weakness, especially if I am dealing with a client who is seeing a lawyer for the first time in life. I must be very honest regarding the client case whither he is in a strong position and he/she is more likely to win, or in a weak position and it does not worth going forward.

In addition to integrity, fairness is an important part of being a lawyer. Be fair to the clients regarding everything in the case. An important portion to be fair about is the fee. As a lawyer, I will be working very hard that I want to get the amount that I deserve. I may need to take an extra time in the case, and I may have to waive my vacation time. It will be fair to me getting a compensation for those extra times, but I should be very logical about the fee I want. I must avoid reaching an excessive fee according with the Rule 1.5 especial if my client is a person who has no knowledge or does not know how to negotiate about it. Again, it will differ weather I am practicing my duty as a profession or as a business.

Part of being a lawyer, I may be hired to be a mediator in dispute. Here, I must be a neutral party and not as a lawyer who represent a client according to the Rule 2.4. A lawyer serving as a third party neutral must not be biased to any of the clients. My duty as a mediator is to resolve the dispute between the parties. However, if I am to be representing my client, the other party must be aware that I am there as a lawyer and not as a mediator.

Being a lawyer is seeking justice. As a lawyer, I must put too much effort to win the case by reading and hearing all of the facts. Also by making additional research if there is any lack of information from the client. Moreover, I must listen to my client be allowing him/her to talk as much as he/she needs. I will get a lot of helpful information because “A lot of great things come from listening”[footnoteRef:2]. In addition to listening, I must learn how to ask questions, what types of questions should I ask and what should I avoid to ask. I should give the case the time it deserves, and I should argue using the best skills I have been learning. As a lawyer, I should think of the freedom I have in working the way I want, and the independence where no one affectss the way I work. I must work with passion, as I am practicing the law as a profession, the passion to this great profession will be bushing me to achieve the best result. [2: Professor Anand, November 9,2017.]

Part of being a lawyer is solving the dispute between the client and the other party. Solving the dispute could be by reaching a settlement by using one of the alternative dispute resolution, or by taking the case to the trial. In any of those ways, the lawyer must represent the client zealously. Representing the client zealously does not mean that the lawyer must win the case but it means that the lawyer must have worked hard to defend the client by using all of the evidence and all of the skills that could lead the case to win. Moreover, representing the client zealously requires sometimes making or taking steps in things the lawyer does not like because it is not about the person but the situation. However, being zealous advocate does not mean cheating or violating the law, and it does not mean representing the client without any limit. As a lawyer, I must know my limits in where to stop.

Finally, part of being a lawyer is the ability of knowing my client to insure the best representation. For example, by representing a 15 years old client, do I have an obligation to this minor or to his parents. Should I listen to him/her or to his/her parent. As a lawyer, I must be able to know what my client wants from me. Further, I must be aware whether the client was right by coming to me for this specific matter or not, and when should I say no or refuse the representation and how much control do I have over the client. Moreover. Being a lawyer must know not only the client capacity but also my capacity and withdraw from a case when I knew that I am not going to be the best and may not represent the client zealously.

Finally, and when choosing the client. As a lawyer, I believe that lawyers should be able to choose who to represent. Because the lawyer must be zealous advocate in representing a client, it is not easy to represent someone I do not like his/her personality or his/her actions. Also, it is not easy just to pretend that I would not think about that client's past action because it may affect my representation. On the other hand, it is easier representing a client who seeks a legal representation without having a past or something I may not like.

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