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Posted on: November 14, 2019 by Huntersure
Attorneys and other legal professionals find themselves in a unique position where pressure is applied every day to ensure that they remain in good standing with their clients and the legal world as a whole. Lawyers are guardians of the law and are understandably high standards to make sure this is upheld on a daily basis with every client and every case.
Lawyers’ code of ethics is strict, and should be. These ethics outline a set of state codes and rules that regulate the conduct of lawyers. These codes make sure that lawyers follow the law while pursuing justice and advocating for their clients.
Every state in the U.S. is different when it comes to the specific ethics codes for lawyers. Every state is responsible for drafting their own set of codes of professional responsibility that govern attorney ethics. According to the American Bar Association, the Model Rules of Professional Responsibility was created in order to be a guideline for ethical conduct and help take care of moral and ethical issues.
Guidelines are set for state bar associations and attorneys who find any unclear areas within the code to make more sense of their ethical and moral choices.
First, there’s confidentiality, which points to a lawyer needing to preserve the confidence of a client. Also, this means that a lawyer can never use a client’s confidence or secret information to their personal gain. Usually, a lawyer can only de-classify a client’s information with consent from the client and only after the lawyer gives full disclosure to the consequences of that disclosure.
In some cases, a lawyer can reveal certain confidences if such is a client’s intent to harm or lead to the death of someone.
Professional judgment is another area of ethics that a lawyer must abide by in which a lawyer should exercise good judgment on behalf of their client. In this case, an attorney can’t accept employment from a client when a conflict of interest is present, such as being related to or involved with them in some capacity.
Furthermore, a lawyer is to keep from acquiring a financial interest beyond legal fees in their cases. Also, a lawyer should usually keep from entering into business agreements with a client if their business interests differ from each other.
Competence is another area from the code of ethics for lawyers as this is something a lawyer must have when they represent a client. If a lawyer is not competent enough to handle a case, that lawyer is generally required to become competent. This can be executed through consulting with another lawyer or conducting the right amount of research. A lawyer should also keep from handling a legal matter without adequate preparation under certain circumstances.
If a lawyer breaks these ethics or strays from them in any way, they could be on the hook for any number of claims related to negligence or unlawful acts connected to illegal personal gain. Having lawyer liability insurance in place to protect against such claims is vital for lawyers in order to keep their reputation and records clean.
Lawyer liability insurance is meant to provide the resources that lawyers need in order to stay protected from claims that can slow down their own work. Attorneys should be sure to work with lawyer liability insurance providers, such as Huntersure, to operate with the right level of professional security.
At Huntersure, we specialize in providing quality professional liability solutions to accounting professionals. Our Accountant Liability Insurance program provides coverage for accountants, auditors, bookkeepers, and tax preparers, so no matter where your clients lie in the industry they can have the coverage they need to protect themselves and their assets. To learn more about our operation and our Professional Liability Insurance solutions, contact us today at (855) 585-6255.
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