VISULE NAJELA 57865434 PROFESSIONAL ETHICS LJU 4802 OCT/NOV EXAM
2021
QUESTION 1: THE LEGAL PROFESSION
1.1 “Legal ethics can be understood in a wide and a narrow sense.”
• In the wide sense, it refers in general to the relationship between law and
ethics (or morality. Questions are asked such as, May the law be used to
enforce moral views for example on abortion or prostitution?
• However, in the narrow sense, the term refers to the ethical standards of
professional conduct applicable to the field of law (as opposed to the field of
medicine. Legal ethics in the narrow sense therefore deals with the “oughts”
of providing legal services: How a legal practitioner ought to behave to be a
good, decent, and proper legal practitioner.
In legal practice “legal ethics” is generally used in its narrow sense.
1.2
➢ A professional code of ethics generally suggests a compilation of
ethical values to provide practitioners in the legal profession with a
framework for the ethical practice of law.
➢ A code of ethics aims, inter alia, to:
• Protect the professional nature of legal services by stressing
the obligation of professionals to serve justice and the public.
• Protect the public against improper conduct or incompetence
by prescribing and guaranteeing the standards of skill, learning
and conduct required.
• Provide practitioners and newcomers with broad parameters
for making morally responsible choices in testing situations.
1.3 Practitioners are suspicious of codes of ethics namely:
“Insider criticism”
• Practical concerns
Professional codes are not always enforced by law societies and those who
transgress them are not always dealt with effectively. Many practitioners feel that
the codes are not properly enforced, they argue that the profession might as well
abandon them or replace them with codes of business ethics. Others are afraid of
upholding ethical values and sticking to the rules when their colleagues are not.
They fear that by trying to encourage their clients to do the right thing, these clients
may go to somebody else who is willing to carry out their wishes.
1
, VISULE NAJELA 57865434 PROFESSIONAL ETHICS LJU 4802 OCT/NOV EXAM
2021
• Theoretical concerns
The idea that the practice of law is a profession (and not merely a job in which
bureaucratic tasks associated with a business is executed) counters the idea that
legal ethics can be reduced to the “rules of ‘professional conduct’”. One justification
for the self-regulation of the profession is that the practice of law requires complex
professional judgments, the reasonableness of which can be judged only by fellow
professionals.
Self-regulation presumes that the conduct of a practitioner will not be judged against
a code, but by colleagues who exhibit those virtues inherent in morally good
practitioners. The formalistic idea that legal ethics is no more than the compliance
with a legal code makes, a mockery of this justification, reduces law to another
business enterprise, and exposes the continued existence of the law and bar
societies as no more than agencies created to protect vested interests.
Therefore, these concerns are valid because Terry is being affected professionally
by these legal codes.
1.4 Public-spiritedness
This concept means that one should choose the legal profession based on his or
her commitment to the public good. The law is seen as an instrument that promotes
and protects something outside and above yourself, namely the public good.
There are different meanings and views regarding the public good. Kronman makes
the following three points in this regard:
• If you do not have a sense of public-spiritedness, you are to some extent a
“professional failure” as you are unable to recognize and appreciate that
along with your status and profession should come the promotion and
protection of the public good in a rather special way.
• Some may seek more than the general promotion of the public good. They
may find fulfillment by becoming involved in politics, for example. This should
not be contrary to the pursuit of the public good, but it is rather a way of
working for the public good by placing special emphasis on political
engagement.
• If you choose the legal profession purely for reasons of public-spiritedness,
then you regard the law as an instrument for the attainment of some public
good. Law will then remain an instrument even though it might not be used
for selfish purposes.
2
2021
QUESTION 1: THE LEGAL PROFESSION
1.1 “Legal ethics can be understood in a wide and a narrow sense.”
• In the wide sense, it refers in general to the relationship between law and
ethics (or morality. Questions are asked such as, May the law be used to
enforce moral views for example on abortion or prostitution?
• However, in the narrow sense, the term refers to the ethical standards of
professional conduct applicable to the field of law (as opposed to the field of
medicine. Legal ethics in the narrow sense therefore deals with the “oughts”
of providing legal services: How a legal practitioner ought to behave to be a
good, decent, and proper legal practitioner.
In legal practice “legal ethics” is generally used in its narrow sense.
1.2
➢ A professional code of ethics generally suggests a compilation of
ethical values to provide practitioners in the legal profession with a
framework for the ethical practice of law.
➢ A code of ethics aims, inter alia, to:
• Protect the professional nature of legal services by stressing
the obligation of professionals to serve justice and the public.
• Protect the public against improper conduct or incompetence
by prescribing and guaranteeing the standards of skill, learning
and conduct required.
• Provide practitioners and newcomers with broad parameters
for making morally responsible choices in testing situations.
1.3 Practitioners are suspicious of codes of ethics namely:
“Insider criticism”
• Practical concerns
Professional codes are not always enforced by law societies and those who
transgress them are not always dealt with effectively. Many practitioners feel that
the codes are not properly enforced, they argue that the profession might as well
abandon them or replace them with codes of business ethics. Others are afraid of
upholding ethical values and sticking to the rules when their colleagues are not.
They fear that by trying to encourage their clients to do the right thing, these clients
may go to somebody else who is willing to carry out their wishes.
1
, VISULE NAJELA 57865434 PROFESSIONAL ETHICS LJU 4802 OCT/NOV EXAM
2021
• Theoretical concerns
The idea that the practice of law is a profession (and not merely a job in which
bureaucratic tasks associated with a business is executed) counters the idea that
legal ethics can be reduced to the “rules of ‘professional conduct’”. One justification
for the self-regulation of the profession is that the practice of law requires complex
professional judgments, the reasonableness of which can be judged only by fellow
professionals.
Self-regulation presumes that the conduct of a practitioner will not be judged against
a code, but by colleagues who exhibit those virtues inherent in morally good
practitioners. The formalistic idea that legal ethics is no more than the compliance
with a legal code makes, a mockery of this justification, reduces law to another
business enterprise, and exposes the continued existence of the law and bar
societies as no more than agencies created to protect vested interests.
Therefore, these concerns are valid because Terry is being affected professionally
by these legal codes.
1.4 Public-spiritedness
This concept means that one should choose the legal profession based on his or
her commitment to the public good. The law is seen as an instrument that promotes
and protects something outside and above yourself, namely the public good.
There are different meanings and views regarding the public good. Kronman makes
the following three points in this regard:
• If you do not have a sense of public-spiritedness, you are to some extent a
“professional failure” as you are unable to recognize and appreciate that
along with your status and profession should come the promotion and
protection of the public good in a rather special way.
• Some may seek more than the general promotion of the public good. They
may find fulfillment by becoming involved in politics, for example. This should
not be contrary to the pursuit of the public good, but it is rather a way of
working for the public good by placing special emphasis on political
engagement.
• If you choose the legal profession purely for reasons of public-spiritedness,
then you regard the law as an instrument for the attainment of some public
good. Law will then remain an instrument even though it might not be used
for selfish purposes.
2
