An attorney's unethical behavior encompasses a variety of actions that violate professional ethics and can lead to disciplinary action or legal consequences. Examples include neglecting customer matters, misrepresenting facts, failing to communicate, and mismanaging customer funds. Engagement in frivolous litigation, intimidation tactics, abuse of power, and dual representation without informed consent are also unethical. Worse yet, the lawyers you work for may direct you to take steps that make you an accomplice of their unethical acts.
Lawyers are held to a high standard of ethics, assuming the implicit responsibility of maintaining their crucial functions in a respectful and honest manner. Chances are, if an attorney in your office acts unethically, you'll notice it, even if you can't accurately determine the exact ethical standard you're violating. In the professional field, the lack of communication with clients has crucial repercussions for both the lawyer and the client. Lawyers cannot communicate directly with victims by phone, email, or any other method of communication without the potential client giving permission to be contacted. A situation in which this violation of the truth often arises includes cases where lawyers do not keep their word during the consultation and do not complete the actions within the time promised to the client.
Ultimately, being attentive, informed and prepared allows you to maintain the highest ethical standards in the legal field and protect yourself from the unethical behavior of lawyers. Make your complaint, go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back for not being complicit in unethical behavior. The advent of electronic registration and electronic discovery has also resulted in an unprecedented number of sanctions by lawyers for a series of abuses, from the failure to submit documents to the leak of sealed documents. On the other hand, many attorneys are often faced with the task of representing clients in “meritless” cases.
Clients may suffer negative consequences that undermine their legal rights when they are represented by an unethical lawyer. A lawyer tells a paralegal, the paralegal accidentally discloses it to an unwanted party or a poorly handled communication: these are some of the many ways confidentiality can be compromised. An attorney must understand that communication is the key to a good attorney-client relationship. It's important to remember that these unethical practices are not representative of the legal profession as a whole, and the vast majority of lawyers are committed to respecting ethical standards and providing effective and honest representation to their clients.
So what do you do if a lawyer you work for asks you to do something unethical? Over the years, I've learned a thing or two about how to deal with these uncomfortable situations...
