204 Pa. Code § 81.1 - Preamble: A Lawyer's Responsibilities
(1) A lawyer, as a member of the legal
profession, is a representative of clients, an officer of the legal system and
a public citizen having a special responsibility for the quality of
justice.
(2) As a representative of
clients, a lawyer performs various functions. As advisor, a lawyer provides a
client with an informed understanding of the client's legal rights and
obligations and explains their practical implications. As advocate, a lawyer
zealously asserts the client's position under the rules of the adversary
system. As negotiator, a lawyer seeks a result advantageous to the client but
consistent with requirements of honest dealings with others. As an evaluator, a
lawyer acts by examining a client's legal affairs and reporting about them to
the client or to others.
(3) In
addition to these representational functions, a lawyer may serve as a
third-party neutral, a nonrepresentational role helping the parties to resolve
a dispute or other matter. Some of these Rules apply directly to lawyers who
are or have served as third-party neutrals. See, e.g., Rules
1.12 and
2.4. In addition, there 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. See Rule
8.4.
(4) In all professional functions a lawyer
should be competent, prompt and diligent. A lawyer should maintain
communication with a client concerning the representation. A lawyer should keep
in confidence information relating to representation of a client except so far
as disclosure is required or permitted by the Rules of Professional Conduct or
other law.
(5) A lawyer's conduct
should conform to the requirements of the law, both in professional service to
clients and in the lawyer's business and personal affairs. A lawyer should use
the law's procedures only for legitimate purposes and not to harass or
intimidate others. A lawyer should demonstrate respect for the legal system and
for those who serve it, including judges, other lawyers and public officials.
While it is a lawyer's duty, when necessary, to challenge the rectitude of
official action, it is also a lawyer's duty to uphold legal process.
(6) As a public citizen, a lawyer should seek
improvement of the law, access to the legal system, the administration of
justice and the quality of service rendered by the legal profession. As a
member of a learned profession, a lawyer should cultivate knowledge of the law
beyond its use for clients, employ that knowledge in reform of the law and work
to strengthen legal education. In addition, a lawyer should further the
public's understanding of and confidence in the rule of law and the justice
system because legal institutions in a constitutional democracy depend on
popular participation and support to maintain their authority. A lawyer should
be mindful of deficiencies in the administration of justice and of the fact
that the poor, and sometimes persons who are not poor, cannot afford adequate
legal assistance. Therefore, all lawyers should devote professional time and
resources and use civic influence to ensure equal access to our system of
justice for all those who because of economic or social barriers cannot afford
or secure adequate legal counsel. A lawyer should aid the legal profession in
pursuing these objectives and should help the bar regulate itself in the public
interest.
(7) Many of a lawyer's
professional responsibilities are prescribed in the Rules of Professional
Conduct, as well as substantive and procedural law. However, a lawyer is also
guided by personal conscience and the approbation of professional peers. A
lawyer should strive to attain the highest level of skill, to improve the law
and the legal profession and to exemplify the legal profession's ideals of
public service.
(8) A lawyer's
responsibilities as a representative of clients, an officer of the legal system
and a public citizen are usually harmonious. Thus, when an opposing party is
well represented, a lawyer can be a zealous advocate on behalf of a client and
at the same time assume that justice is being done. So also, a lawyer can be
sure that preserving client confidences ordinarily serves the public interest
because people are more likely to seek legal advice, and thereby heed their
legal obligations, when they know their communications will be
private.
(9) In the nature of law
practice, however, conflicting responsibilities are encountered. 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 ethical person while earning a satisfactory living.
The Rules of Professional Conduct often prescribe terms for resolving such
conflicts. Within the framework of these Rules, however, many difficult issues
of professional discretion can arise. Such issues must be resolved through the
exercise of sensitive professional and moral judgment guided by the basic
principles underlying the Rules. These principles include the lawyer's
obligation zealously to protect and pursue a client's legitimate interests,
within the bounds of the law, while maintaining a professional, courteous and
civil attitude toward all persons involved in the legal system.
(10) The legal profession is largely
self-governing. Although other professions also have been granted powers of
self-government, the legal profession is unique in this respect because of the
close relationship between the profession and the processes of government and
law enforcement. This connection is manifested in the fact that ultimate
authority over the legal profession is vested largely in the courts.
(11) To the extent that lawyers meet the
obligations of their professional calling, the occasion for government
regulation is obviated. Self-regulation also helps maintain the legal
profession's independence from government domination. An independent legal
profession is an important force in preserving government under law, for abuse
of legal authority is more readily challenged by a profession whose members are
not dependent on government for the right to practice.
(12) The legal profession's relative autonomy
carries with it special responsibilities of self-government. The profession has
a responsibility to assure that its regulations are conceived in the public
interest and not in furtherance of parochial or self-interested concerns of the
bar. Every lawyer is responsible for observance of the Rules of Professional
Conduct. A lawyer should also aid in securing their observance by other
lawyers. Neglect of these responsibilities compromises the independence of the
profession and the public interest which it serves.
(13) Lawyers play a vital role in the
preservation of society. The fulfillment of this role requires an understanding
by lawyers of their relationship to our legal system. The Rules of Professional
Conduct, when properly applied, serve to define that relationship.
Notes
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