When people speak of the legal profession, off-color yarns will sometimes be spun. Notwithstanding the tiresome "note-worthy" cases in the media or the oft-popular neighborly anecdotes, it can be said with some degree of certainty that lawyers as a whole tend to follow ethical standards as a rule rather than the exception. Nonetheless, in Minnesota roughly 1,100 complaints* were filed annually from 2001 to 2005 concerning legal or ethical malpractice/misfeasance. To put this in perspective, in 2006 Minnesota retained roughly 21,100 attorneys in the state bar.** The ratio--or probability (for those concerned)--of lawyers having complaints filed against them speaks for itself and merits no additional discussion.
In light of this data, what should legal professionals do to minimize the risk of having their actions audited? What should lawyers hold as their model of conduct?
All states have their own codes of professional conduct in some form or another. Yet this raises an interesting question: what does one do when personal morals/beliefs are not always in line with the code? Of course, one can always set his or her personal bar higher than the legal standard. There should be no problem with actions under that regime so long as convictions are made clear at the beginning to potential clients or employers. Yet given our society today, professionals may find that a higher bar can lead to diminished business--not all potential cases can fit neatly into one's comfort zone of "ethical" practice. From this we must analyze the troubling notion of what "ethics" even means in an increasingly relativistic and pluralistic world.
This leads me to the question that will dominate this and later post series: what can a Christian lawyer do to ensure that they not only uphold the law and "ethical" code of their state, but more importantly that they also serve for God's glory?
A seemingly simple question at the outset, but one I imagine must be fraught with difficult questions and periods of reflection when encountered practically. Throughout this series I will provide some of my viewpoints as I learn more.
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Sources: [*] Annual Report of the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board June 2006 (Table II). [**] American Bar Association.
In light of this data, what should legal professionals do to minimize the risk of having their actions audited? What should lawyers hold as their model of conduct?
All states have their own codes of professional conduct in some form or another. Yet this raises an interesting question: what does one do when personal morals/beliefs are not always in line with the code? Of course, one can always set his or her personal bar higher than the legal standard. There should be no problem with actions under that regime so long as convictions are made clear at the beginning to potential clients or employers. Yet given our society today, professionals may find that a higher bar can lead to diminished business--not all potential cases can fit neatly into one's comfort zone of "ethical" practice. From this we must analyze the troubling notion of what "ethics" even means in an increasingly relativistic and pluralistic world.
This leads me to the question that will dominate this and later post series: what can a Christian lawyer do to ensure that they not only uphold the law and "ethical" code of their state, but more importantly that they also serve for God's glory?
A seemingly simple question at the outset, but one I imagine must be fraught with difficult questions and periods of reflection when encountered practically. Throughout this series I will provide some of my viewpoints as I learn more.
----------
Sources: [*] Annual Report of the Lawyers Professional Responsibility Board June 2006 (Table II). [**] American Bar Association.
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