This is based on the UK Solicitors Regulatory Authority Code of Conduct. So it’s British not American regulation based, but it’s broadly similar. (Some parts are from the American Model Rules of Professional Conduct). Note that the regulation of lawyers is deliberately placed under a government authority, ie SRA in the UK, not under a self-regulatory body like the ABA.
Note that this regulates business practices, not professional ethics for lawyers.
Category: Regulation/Legal Reform
Draft 1
The World Assembly (WA),
Noting the critical role that attorneys play in everyday life;
Desiring to impose at least some standards on their business practices;
The WA hereby enacts as follows:
- Definitions.
- Attorney means anyone admitted to practise law on behalf of a client (“client”), including advocates, barristers, solicitors, and other similar positions. This also includes any entity or firm of attorneys.
- Attorney excludes anyone working as an employee. It also excludes anyone elected under a political process.
- WA organ means any of the committees of the WA.
- WA state includes its sub-national divisions.
- Definitions in the singular include the plural and vice versa.
- Admittance.
- No one may act as, or hold themselves out as, an attorney unless duly admitted by an authority (“authority”) of a WA state.
- Each WA state is entitled to admit attorneys pursuant to its own process and subject to its own qualifications requirements. This includes both attorneys qualified for the laws of that WA state, or for the laws of other states.
- Authority.
- The authority must be a government authority with representation from individuals that are not attorneys, and not a self-regulating entity.
- Any disciplinary action made by the said authority must be publicly disclosed. This includes any action subsequently overturned under any appellate processes.
- Engagement letter.
- An attorney can only be engaged to act an engagement letter has been duly executed by a client. Any variations to an engagement letter require the explicit consent of the client.
- The engagement letter must set out the scope of work, fees, costs on account (if any), the handling attorney(s), service standards, and other pertinent matters as required by each WA state.
- Prior to an engagement:
- An attorney must clearly advise clients of their full name, their state of admittance, qualifications obtained, specialisation and experience, track record, as well as any disciplinary action against them at any time in their career.
- An attorney must provide a reasonable estimate of the fees that may be incurred as part of any litigation, including any appellate work.
- Client competence.
- An attorney is required to ensure that the client is legally competent at the time of the engagement. An attorney is required to fully explain the implications of the engagement to the client prior to engagement.
- An attorney is required to refrain from engagements from anyone who may be noticeably deteriorating in mental capacity, unless the engagement is specifically related to that issue, such as work on wills.
- Client money.
- An attorney is required to properly safeguard and account for any client money.
- A general retainer (for availability) is earned immediately, but a specific retainer for a case (and costs on account) must be expensed as charges are incurred.
- Any costs on account must be of a reasonable amount.
- Any unearned retainer or costs on account must be promptly returned to the client after the conclusion of an engagement.
- All client money must be segregated from proprietary money and held in a depository institution with satisfactory levels of deposit insurance.
- Fees.
- Fees must be reasonable based on (i) the time, skill and labour required from the attorney and (ii) the customary rates charged in that WA state.
- Attorneys acting on a purely contingent fee basis must be entitled only to a reasonable share of any results obtained.
- Non-refundable fees are prohibited.
- An attorney must decline any civil litigation (including private prosecutions, if any) if the client is unlikely to recover its full costs from such litigation.
- The preceding excludes litigation with benefits to a client that cannot be easily quantified, such as reputation or trademark rights.
- Insurance.
- An attorney must have adequate insurance coverage with a reputable insurer that the authority considers satisfactory at all times.
- Such coverage shall cover malpractice, professional discipline, and sanctions, as well as ordinary business risks such as fire and flooding at their premises.
- An attorney must refrain from engagement in a case if the potential loss to the client is very significantly greater than the amount of insurance coverage maintained in this clause.
- The preceding sub-clause may be waived with the explicit consent of the client.
- Jurisdiction.
- Each WA state is responsible for the interpretation and enforcement of this resolution, and for any disciplinary action and penalties that may be imposed.
- For qualified in foreign law but admitted to practice in another WA state, that WA state has jurisdiction.
Char count: 4,868 (of course excludes that joke at the end)
