A lawyer’s duties

This is the first in a series about a lawyer’s duties.

“Virtually all difficult ethical problems arise from conflict between a lawyer’s responsibilities to clients, to the legal system and to the lawyer’s own interest in remaining an upright person while earning a satisfactory living”.

Preamble to the Mississippi Rules of Professional Conduct

The primary source of our ethical guidelines are, of course, the Mississippi Rules of Professional Conduct.

Without doubt, the Rules govern the conduct of lawyers while they are practicing law. That is, of course, the primary focus of the Rules.

It is important to recognize, however, that the Rules do more than govern us when we are practicing law. Some of them govern us simply because we are lawyers, and they follow us wherever we go.

The Preamble to the Rules explains:

[T]here are Rules that apply to lawyers who are not active in the practice of law or to practicing lawyers even when they are acting in a nonprofessional capacity. For example, a lawyer who commits fraud in the conduct of a business is subject to discipline for engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.

This source does not get mentioned very much. It is Miss. Code Ann. Section 73-3-37, which makes it the duty of each attorney:

(1) To support the constitution and laws of this state and of the United States;

(2) To maintain the respect due to courts of justice and judicial officers;

(3) To employ for the purpose of maintaining the causes confided to them, such means only as are consistent with truth, and never to seek to mislead by any artifice or false statement of the law;

(4) To maintain inviolate the confidence and, at every peril to themselves, to preserve the secrets of their clients;

(5) To abstain from all offensive personalities, and to advance no fact prejudicial to the honor or reputation of a party or witness, unless required by the justice of the cause with which they are charged;

(6) To encourage neither the commencement nor continuance of an action or proceeding from any motives of passion or personal interest;

(7) Never to reject, for any consideration personal to themselves, the cause of the defenseless or oppressed.

A lawyer can be disciplined for violations of both the rules and the statute. See, e.g., Clark v. Mississippi State Bar Association, 471 So. 2d 352, 355 (Miss. 1985).

In this regard, the Preamble to the Rules explains that:

Violation of a Rule should not give rise to a cause of action nor should it create any presumption that a legal duty has been breached. The Rules are designed to provide guidance to lawyers and to provide a structure for regulating conduct through disciplinary agencies. They are not designed to be a basis for civil liability.

On the other hand, Section 73-3-37 contains no such caveat.

If you have a question about a lawyer’s duties, call the Panter Law Firm for a consultation. 601-607-3156.

www.craigpanterlaw.com

Craig Painter

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