LJU4802 LEGAL ETHICS & PROFESSIONAL
RESPONSIBILITY – COMPLETE STUDY NOTES,
KEY CASES & EXAM PREP
What are the functions of a code of legal ethics? - ---correct answer ---• protect the
professional nature of legal services by stressing the obligation of professionals to serve justice
and the public
• correct the imbalance in the relationship between the professional and the client
• maintain public confidence
• 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
• ensure fair competition between legal practitioners
• discipline unprofessional behaviour
Adversial Legal System - ---correct answer ---- aka accusatory system
- 2 parties face each other (eg state and accused)
- role of legal representative and judge are clearly separated
- judge acts as an impartial referee, who listens toboth sides of the case and must see to it that the
various legal representatives adhere to the procedural rules
- judge must ascertain the true version of the facts and apply the law objectively to these facts
- legal practitioners focus on the client interest and do not really strive for justice
- legal practitioners act as mouth piece for clients
- judge decides if accused is guilty
- legal representative is not independent or impartial - only listens to client side
, Referral rule - ---correct answer ---- Adv do not accept briefs directly from clients -
must be briefed by an attorney
- attorney initiates the contract between adv and client, negotiates fees, instructs adv, etc
- in public interest for courts to enforce the referral rule
- advocates may not take instructions directly from lay clients and can do so only with the
intervention of an attorney - is fundamental to the advocates' profession.
- the purpose of the referral rule is to protect members of the public because advocates do not
hold trust accounts. He added that it does so effectively and that it is not designed or
implemented in order to deny disadvantaged citizens access to advocates or to courts. 'Moreover,
the referral rule applies regardless of whether the advocate is a member of an established Bar or
the independent Bar
Post modernism is characterized by - ---correct answer ---- the demise of the belief
in the universal validity of a particular (Western) life style or morality
- the celebration of difference
- the rejection of absolutes as well as universals
- the recognition of the necessity to accept uncertainty and indeterminacy as a way of life
An advocate may charge only reasonable fees for services rendered. In determining the
amount of the fee, it is proper to consider the following - ---correct answer ---(1)
the time and labour required, the novelty and difficulty of the questions
involved and the skill required to properly conduct the case
(2) the customary charges by counsel of comparable standing for similar services,
and
(3) in cases regarding money, the amount involved in the controversy and its
importance to the client
Confidentiality between client and attorney - ---correct answer ---- contract brings
about the duty of confidentiality
RESPONSIBILITY – COMPLETE STUDY NOTES,
KEY CASES & EXAM PREP
What are the functions of a code of legal ethics? - ---correct answer ---• protect the
professional nature of legal services by stressing the obligation of professionals to serve justice
and the public
• correct the imbalance in the relationship between the professional and the client
• maintain public confidence
• 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
• ensure fair competition between legal practitioners
• discipline unprofessional behaviour
Adversial Legal System - ---correct answer ---- aka accusatory system
- 2 parties face each other (eg state and accused)
- role of legal representative and judge are clearly separated
- judge acts as an impartial referee, who listens toboth sides of the case and must see to it that the
various legal representatives adhere to the procedural rules
- judge must ascertain the true version of the facts and apply the law objectively to these facts
- legal practitioners focus on the client interest and do not really strive for justice
- legal practitioners act as mouth piece for clients
- judge decides if accused is guilty
- legal representative is not independent or impartial - only listens to client side
, Referral rule - ---correct answer ---- Adv do not accept briefs directly from clients -
must be briefed by an attorney
- attorney initiates the contract between adv and client, negotiates fees, instructs adv, etc
- in public interest for courts to enforce the referral rule
- advocates may not take instructions directly from lay clients and can do so only with the
intervention of an attorney - is fundamental to the advocates' profession.
- the purpose of the referral rule is to protect members of the public because advocates do not
hold trust accounts. He added that it does so effectively and that it is not designed or
implemented in order to deny disadvantaged citizens access to advocates or to courts. 'Moreover,
the referral rule applies regardless of whether the advocate is a member of an established Bar or
the independent Bar
Post modernism is characterized by - ---correct answer ---- the demise of the belief
in the universal validity of a particular (Western) life style or morality
- the celebration of difference
- the rejection of absolutes as well as universals
- the recognition of the necessity to accept uncertainty and indeterminacy as a way of life
An advocate may charge only reasonable fees for services rendered. In determining the
amount of the fee, it is proper to consider the following - ---correct answer ---(1)
the time and labour required, the novelty and difficulty of the questions
involved and the skill required to properly conduct the case
(2) the customary charges by counsel of comparable standing for similar services,
and
(3) in cases regarding money, the amount involved in the controversy and its
importance to the client
Confidentiality between client and attorney - ---correct answer ---- contract brings
about the duty of confidentiality
