Legal Profession Ethics & Morality - Essay Example

Legal Profession: Ethics & MoralityAdmittedly, the legal profession is often considered more ethical than other professions. According to many surveys, lawyers are more ethical than politicians, building contractors, and businessmen. It is rather surprising why this profession is generally rated more ethical than others; and according to MacFarlane (2006), this happens because of the nature of this profession. Evidently, people see lawyers as the ‘means to justice’. As a result, the legal profession is always under close observation and thorough scrutiny.

As a result, it becomes necessary for the legal profession to introduce strict codes of conduct for its people to avoid becoming the target of public criticism. Thus, the legal profession has well-developed and strictly imposed codes of ethics and standards of professional practice. That means a lawyer who is acting in accordance with the standards automatically become ethical. Here one has to understand the fact that the legal profession has a number of basic paradoxes to face unlike other professions.

First of all, lawyers are considered as officers of the court. Thus they possess the obligation to help the court in the administration of justice. Secondly, the lawyer has the responsibility to act in the best interests of his client. Thirdly, a lawyer is lured by the fact of his own financial gains. Evidently, it requires a lot of ethics to manage all these affairs to retain people’s faith in the system. In fact, in order to ensure smooth functioning of the judiciary, there are extensive ethical codes for the legal profession.

They cover issues like conflicts of interest, acting for both parties, business relations with the clients, opposing a former client, and confidentiality of the information From the discussion, it becomes evident that the legal profession is different from other professions in the fact that while all other professions have the primary aim of making pecuniary gain, the legal profession has earning only as a subservient function. Thus, one can also reach the conclusion that the profession deserves a higher regard due to these basic differences.

Unlike many other professions, a lawyer is an asset to the whole society. The lawyer is a necessary part of the legal system in a country as he gives authorized legal advice and help to the society. Moreover, as already seen, he sacrifices his own chances of financial gain to offer sincere and dedicated service to the client. Furthermore, a lawyer respects the confidentiality of information provided by a client, and to respect the same, he does not even oppose a former client in future. Thus, it becomes evident that legal profession involves a large number of ethical issues to deal with.

As judiciary is one of the most important organs of a civilized society, it becomes necessary for the legal professionals to be highly ethical in their functioning. Thus, legal profession has a complex web of ethical considerations to deal with in its day to day functioning. Thus, being the people who sacrifice personal interests for the welfare of others, members of the legal profession deserve higher regard in the society. ReferencesMacFarlane, p. (2006). The importance of ethics and the application of ethical principles to the legal profession.

Journal of South Pacific Law, 13 (1). Retrieved from http://www.paclii.org/journals/fJSPL/vol06/8.shtml