Essays On Professionalism

By Frederick K. Slicker

The purpose of this book is to emphasize the importance to individual lawyers and to the legal profession as a whole the qualities and characteristics fundamental to their profession.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Apr 29, 2015
• ISBN: 9781942451099

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Law.

FORWARD

Essays on Professionalism is a project of the Tulsa County Bar Association. Essays is a compilation of articles on topics of professionalism in the legal profession written by Frederick K. Slicker over a period of more than 10 years. Most of these articles have appeared in the Tulsa Lawyer, a publication of the Tulsa County Bar Association. The purpose of Essays is to emphasize the importance to individual lawyers and to the legal profession as a whole of the qualities and characteristics fundamental to the profession.

INDEX

Professionalism: What is it? (Tulsa Lawyer, April, 2005)

A Tale of Two Lawyers: A Summary (Tulsa Lawyer, February, 2015)

Characteristics of the Professional Lawyer

A New Definition of Professionalism (Tulsa Lawyer, December, 2014)

Good Moral Character: An Essential Element of Professionalism (Tulsa Lawyer, January, 2015)

Honesty: The First Duty of Every Lawyer (Tulsa Lawyer, July, 2008)

Honesty: The Foundation of Professionalism (Included in Honesty, Integrity and Civility: Three Pillars of Professionalism, 85 OK Bar J. 2587, December, 2014)

Silencing the Truth: The Penn State Case (Tulsa Lawyer, December, 2011)

Civility: The Cornerstone of Professionalism (Included in Honesty, Integrity and Civility: Three Pillars of Professionalism, 85 OK Bar J. 2587, December, 2014)

Zealous Advocacy: A Duty with Limits (Tulsa Lawyer, October, 2014)

Living Professionalism (Tulsa Lawyer, January, 2010)

Top Ten Professionalism Tips (Tulsa Lawyer, April, 2010) (Included in Honesty, Integrity and Civility: Three Pillars of Professionalism, 85 OK Bar J. 2587, December, 2014)

ABCs of Professionalism (Tulsa Lawyer, June, 2008)

The Grievance Process (Tulsa Lawyer, March, 2005)

Avoiding a Grievance (Tulsa Lawyer, December, 2009)

The Gorilla and the Basketball: Perception vs Truth (Tulsa Lawyer, November, 2007)

The Invisible Gorilla and Other Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us: A Summary (Tulsa Lawyer, September, 2010)

Stress Busters (Tulsa Lawyer, January, 2007)

An Honorable Profession and the Good That Lawyers Do

Professionalism Often Requires Courage

Professionalism and Ethics Resources

Oklahoma Bar Association

OBA’s Definition of Professionalism www.okbar.org/members/ethicscounsel

OBA’s Lawyer’s Creed www.okbar.org/members/ethicscounsel

OBA’s Standards of Professionalism www.okbar.org/members/ethicscounsel

OBA Ethics Opinions www.okbar.org/members/ethicscounsel

Free ethics advice for OBA Members: OBA Ethics Counsel: 405-416-7055

American Bar Association

ABA Center for Professional Responsibility www.americanbar.org/professionalism

ABA Formal Ethics Opinions

ABA Model Rules of Professional Responsibility

Free ethics research for ABA members: 800-285-2221: [e-mail]

Other Resources

Georgia Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism: 404-225-5042: www.gabar.org/cjcp

PROFESSIONALISM: WHAT IS IT?

In 1997, the American Bar Association published a pamphlet entitled Promoting Professionalism, which unfortunately is now out of print. In that pamphlet, the ABA remarked:

"Professionalism embraces a larger field than ethics. Ethics is a set of rules that lawyers must obey with sanctions for disobedience. Professionalism encompasses not only what a lawyer must or must not do, but also what a lawyer should do to serve a client and the public and how it should be done."

Nevertheless, defining professionalism has been elusive. Even the ABA’s pamphlet was not able to come to a consensus on a definition of professionalism. In fact, despite a significant search, I found no universally accepted definition of professionalism. Let me suggest the following definition:

Professionalism is living a life of personal integrity, professional competence and mutual respect for others. Professionalism involves:

(1)Doing what is morally right; and

(2)Representing clients with honesty, integrity and competence; and

(3)Treating clients, opposing counsel, the courts, and others with civility and common courtesy; and

(4)Complying with the law and the Rules of Professional Conduct; and

(5)Serving the client and the public interest by promoting respect for the Rule of Law.

This definition embodies five basic principles of professionalism which are generally recognized to be include in the criteria for accepted professional behavior: Integrity, competence, civility, compliance and service to others.

Integrity

Personal honesty and integrity of lawyers is the cornerstone of the legal system, without which no system of law can prevail. When lawyers are not honest, particularly in papers filed in court, the rule of law is jeopardized. If the courts cannot rely upon the honesty of the lawyers that practice before them, the system of law itself is placed at risk. In its pamphlet, Promoting Professionalism, the ABA stated:

No element of professionalism is more important than ethics… The ethical integrity of the lawyer must be our profession’s hallmark and call for public confidence. Ethics is not just a set of rules. It is a value system, a mind-set, a responsibility that must remain constant in the lawyer’s consciousness.

On November 17, 1989, the OBA Board of Governors adopted the Lawyer’s Creed which reads in part:

In my dealings with the Court and with counsel, as well as with others, my word is my bond… .

The Lawyer’s Creed was revised by the OBA on March 8, 2008 to include reference to the OBA’s Standards of Professionalism. The full text of the OBA’s Lawyer’s Creed can be found at www.okbar.org/members/ethicscounsel.

On November 20, 2002, the OBA Board of Governors adopted the Standards of Professionalism, which were also adopted by the Oklahoma Judicial Conference on December 20, 2002. Section 1.2 of these Standards states as follows:

The full text of the Standards is at www.okbar.org/members/ethicscounsel.

Despite these platitudes, too often some lawyers do exactly the opposite. Some lawyers do misstate, do exaggerate, do distort and do mislead, all in an effort to win the argument, to carry the day. When will we learn that personal integrity and honesty are the foundation upon which our profession and our system of law depend?

Professional Competence

Rule 1.1 of the Oklahoma Rules of Professional Conduct states: A lawyer shall provide competent representation to a client. Competent representation requires the legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness, and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation. It is not an accident that competence is the first of the Rules. Clients expect their lawyer to know the law and how to apply it. But competence means more than just having a basic knowledge of the law, because all people are presumed to know the law. Competence implies proficiency in applying the rules of law to the facts in question in an effort to solve the problems facing the client. Competence, therefore, embodies more than just education and knowledge. Competence consists of the ability to apply the knowledge of the law and procedures with experience, preparation, diligence, determination and commitment.

Competence, however, does not mean perfection in any matter, but competence does mean that lawyers are expected to seek with diligence and determination the content, meaning and purpose of the law, so that their knowledge of the law and facts is applied with experience and wisdom in helping solve the client’s problems.

Mutual Respect

The Golden Rule, that is, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, has been a universally accepted standard of conduct in most cultures throughout all generations of man as a guiding principal for proper civil conduct. In the legal profession, we often use the term civility as a short hand way to refer to this accepted standard of professional conduct.

The ABA’s Promoting Professionalism quotes Justice Anthony M. Kennedy in his address to the 1997 Annual ABA Meeting as follows:

Civility is the mark of an accomplished and superb professional, but it is more even than this. It is an end in itself. Civility has deep roots in the idea of respect for the individual…respect for the dignity and worth of a fellow human being.

Mutual respect for the client, for opposing counsel, for the courts and for the rule of law is the end that professionalism embraces.

The Lawyer’s Creed referred to above includes the following:

"I revere the Law, the System [of Justice] and the Profession, and I pledge that in my private practice and professional life, and in my dealings with members of the Bar, I will uphold the dignity and respect of each in my behavior towards others…

"In all dealings with members of the Bar, I will be guided by a fundamental sense of integrity and fair play…

I recognize that a desire to prevail must be tempered with civility. Rude behavior hinders effective advocacy…

The Standards of Professionalism referred to above includes the following standard:

Despite these platitudes, all too often, lawyers practice Rambo tactics which foster antagonism, rancor, excessive aggressiveness and a win-at-all-costs approach gone wild. Many of those that engage in this extreme form of conduct sometimes even believe that our clients want a gladiator, take-no-prisoners attitude against their opponents and their opponent’s counsel. The exact opposite is actually true. Clients do not want a fight or a case. Clients want their problems solved quickly and efficiently. While they do want to win, they do not want endless and expensive arguments. Problem-solving is not enhanced by mean-spirited personal attacks on others or rude and inconsiderate behavior.

Compliance

Compliance means that lawyers will follow the law in furthering the interests of their clients. But compliance also means that lawyers will also comply with the Rules of Professional Conduct and the generally accepted Standards of Professionalism.

Service

The legal profession requires that each lawyer embrace service to others as an essential part of the practice of law. Service means contributing time, energy, knowledge and experience to community, civic, religious, not-for-profit and similar organizations. Service also means providing representation to those that need but do not have the means to pay for legal representation. Giving to those that are less fortunate is a fundamental value of the legal profession.

Conclusion

Professionalism is a life style, not a set of rules or principles. Professionalism embodies a commitment to personal and professional integrity and honesty in all dealings with others. Professionalism expects lawyers to be competent in their knowledge of the law, but also in