Oklahoma duty to inform forum professional#

Oklahoma duty to inform forum professional#

However, a lawyer is also guided by personal conscience and the approbation of professional peers. Many of a lawyer's professional responsibilities are prescribed in the Rules of Professional Conduct, as well as substantive and procedural law. A lawyer should aid the legal profession in pursuing these objectives and should help the bar regulate itself in the public interest. 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 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. 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. 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. 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.Īs 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. A lawyer should demonstrate respect for the legal system and for those who serve it, including judges, other lawyers and public officials. A lawyer should use the law's procedures only for legitimate purposes and not to harass or intimidate others. 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.Ī 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 maintain communication with a client concerning the representation. In all professional functions a lawyer should be competent, prompt and diligent. 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.

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.

Some of these Rules apply directly to lawyers who are or have served as third-party neutrals. 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. As an evaluator, a lawyer acts by examining a client's legal affairs and reporting about them to the client or to others. As negotiator, a lawyer seeks a result advantageous to the client but consistent with requirements of honest dealings with others. As advocate, a lawyer zealously asserts the client’s position under the rules of the adversary system. As advisor, a lawyer provides a client with an informed understanding of the client’s legal rights and obligations and explains their practical implications. Adopted by Order of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania dated October 16, 1987, effective April 1, 1988.