The role and the task of lawyers play a vital role in society. There are some perspectives on what should be the fundamental task of lawyers. One of the perspectives claims that a lawyer should serve the utmost expectations of the clients. Another perspective says that the lawyer should act for the well-being of society. How and which one is more important to the larger interest of humanity are discussed in the four prescribed duties of lawyers.
1. Duty to the profession:
There are multiple codes of conduct for the lawyers to respectfully observe in order to fulfill the prescribed obligations. SRA code of conduct 2011 defines some of the obligations. One of them is that the lawyer has to deal with cases honestly. The second one claims that the solicitor should not harm his empowerment or his autonomy. It means the lawyer has to act independently. The third obligation set by the SRA code of conduct 2011 is that treat the clients in a way that should build public trust. This is how the masses would start believing in legal activities or just decide their social issues by Jirgas.
2. Duty to the state:
Lawyers must recognize their duty to the state. This obliges the lawyer to not represent anyone doing criminal activities harmful to the state. This becomes the duty of the lawyer to the state. Such an example is that of money laundering. Mostly, black money is made white or clean through the firms of lawyers because it is perceived that money transacted through lawyer firms is clean. Thirty million Euros was laundered through solicitors and it was not in the knowledge of other lawyers of the same firm. It happened in the case of the Brink`s-Mat gold bullion robbery. The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 were implemented to curb money laundering.
Two of the offenses in the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 are concisely defined by the Law Society. One of them is section 327-concealing. Section 327 rules A person commits an offense if he conceals, disguises, converts, or transfers criminal property, or removes the criminal property from England and Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland. The second one is Section 328-arrangements which claims A person commits an offense if he enters into, or becomes concerned in an arrangement that he knows or suspects facilitates the acquisition, retention, use, or control of criminal property by or on behalf of another person.
Some codes of conduct also reinforce the idea of duty to the state. BSB Code of Conduct 2015 asks the lawyer should safeguard the particulars of his clients and if revelation is required by law, the lawyer with the agreement of the client should provide it. Moreover, there is an exception to the duty of confidentiality made by the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. SRA code of conduct 2011 makes the lawyers follow the laws which are implemented in business, including anti-money laundering and data protection legislation.
Lastly, tax avoidance is one more example of how a lawyer in such a scenario should perform his duty to the state. Mostly, businesses avoid tax or do not pay tax by excusing through legal firms. This obliges the lawyer not to help such businesses. This way a lawyer can realize his duty to the state. The finance Act 2004 binds everyone to report schemes or arrangements to the HM Revenue and Customs which are not on the radar of routine tax. They are done by professionals to avoid tax. The client can benefit from such a situation but it is the duty of the lawyer to report such tax exceptions.
3. Obligations to the Court:
The lawyers have to be loyal to the courts in any situation. In the line with this duty, the lawyer even reveals details that might help the opponent. BSB codes of conduct 2015 stress on lawyers perform their duty to courts in order to serve justice. It further suggests that the court should not be deluded and a lawyer should never misuse his power. The precious time of the court must not be spoiled and wise steps should be taken in favor of the court. The autonomy of the lawyer must be taken good care of and serving the expectations of the clients is reliable to the lawyer`s duty to the court. Lastly, the duty of the lawyer to the court does not make the lawyer violate the rule of confidentiality of the client.
4. Duty to the public at large:
The lawyers strive to represent their clients at their best and might do anything in succeeding the case. This blind approach may harm the well-being of society as well as the integrity of a particular court. Therefore, to avoid making blunders for the greater public interest, a lawyer has to be very wise in representing a client. There are three principles taken as guiding lines. Firstly, it is the prime duty of the lawyer to society by revealing any particular that might harm the bricks and the stability of the society. Secondly, revelation and violation of confidentiality become obligatory when the larger public interest is involved. However and thirdly, honesty and confidentiality of a client keep lawyers under pressure to not reveal anything without the consent of the lawyer. Kershaw and Moorhead think lawyers should be sources of help in preventing notorious things from happening. They further say that SRA should revise the SRA Handbook and enlist provisions that should prevent lawyers from helping those clients who are having clandestine and bad motives behind the cases. Such notorious deeds can be decided by criminal law, civil law, or regulation.
Pro Bono:
Pro Bono Coordinating Committee adopted The Joint Pro Bono Protocol for Legal Work. The competent professional bodies have admitted pro bono work. They define pro bono as Legal advice or representation provided by lawyers in the public interest including to individuals, charities, and community groups who cannot afford to pay for that advice or representation and where public and alternative means of funding are not available.
The Case for Pro Bono work:
The general perception in pro bono work is that lawyers should sometimes represent clients without charging fees in order not only to serve the elite class of society. Pro bono work encourages and widens the scope of the justice system in our society; therefore, lawyers are appreciated if they do so. The firms in the United Kingdom have promoted pro bono work greatly. The New York Bar has instructed the applicants to complete 50 hours of pro bono work in 2015. Moreover, the European Court of Human Rights in Van Der Mussele v Belgium declared pro bono is not forced labor for Belgian pupil advocates and it does not violate Article 4 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
Lucy Scott-Moncrieff, president of the Law Society, admits the case of pro bono work as social work by saying, Pro Bono is good for solicitors and enables them to show that they are genuinely committed to access to justice. It can build skills, experience, confidence, and self-esteem. It brings lawyers into contact with many clients that they wouldn`t otherwise meet and enables them to use their unique professional skills to make a high-value contribution to helping others. On the contrary, it is proposed by Stephen Vaughan and colleagues with concern over relating pro bono work to other charitable work. In addition, the websites of many legal bodies combine these two and consider that there is no difference between time spent on delivering free-of-cost legal lectures at a law school and instructing children how to read in a local school.
Concerns about Pro Bono:
Concerns about pro bono work have been made by some lawyers on different grounds. Firstly, lawyers claim that their pro bono work may affect the relationship with paying clients who can also ask for favors. Secondly, it is argued that the government promotes pro bono work in order to cover its limitations on legal aid. Thirdly, critics claim that lawyers do pro bono work because there is a selfish motive behind it. That motive is to build a positive public image which would be beneficial for their firms. It is said that pro bono work is used as a source of advertisement to convince the masses to be clients of their firms.
Deborah Rhode says, In practice, pro bono has never been only about what is good for the public. It has also been about what is good for lawyers: what will enhance their reputation, experience, contacts, and relationships? she further says that it is about enhancing the skills of junior lawyers and creating a good public image.
Pro Bono works in practice:
Almost 1,000 cases are represented free of cost by the Free Representation Unit with the support of the Pro Bono Unit. This is done on charity grounds to support the miserable section of society that cannot meet the expense of hiring lawyers. More and more lawyers have been volunteering themselves. The common number of hours of pro bono work done by solicitors in a year was 52 observed by the research Law Society in 2016. Alongside these, Vaughan and colleagues have gained ample knowledge from the websites of leading firms which tell us that pro bono is common mostly among young lawyers. There are also reports of financial donations. It was observed by them that the Clifford Chance Foundation has fixed a yearly budget of one million Euros to contribute to national and international charities.
Case Study:
The financial scandals that happened in past have become case studies in the privilege discussions. One of the case studies is that of the Enron scandal. The lawyers violated the confidentiality of the giant company because they thought this a criminal fraud where shareholders were being exploited. This led to the fall of the energy giant, Enron, in the US in 2001.
Environment:
There is an indirect relation between the well-being of the environment and the role of the lawyers. The companies that are boosting deforestation are detrimental to our environment. Such corporations are served with legal representation and this is done by lawyers. It is therefore argued that the lawyers and firms for the sake of fee or image should never help such companies who destroy our environment by deforestation. Thus, lawyers can save the planet from global warming.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, it can be said that lawyers can establish harmony and peace in society. They can even save nature which has become a global issue today. The legal bodies must come into colliding nationally and internationally to promote peace. There are international cases that are dealt with by the International Court of Justice. In such powerful platforms, the barristers can establish peace among the countries by avoiding the destructive consequences of war. The recent case of Kulbushan Jadhive is an opportunity where the barristers can play a good role to bring peace and save lives.