Sustainable Professionalism

Abstract

The traditional narrative of the legal profession has run its course. Lawyers are looking for ethically sensitive ways to practice law that “assume greater responsibility for the welfare of parties other than clients” and that increasingly amount “to a plus for this society and for the world of our children.” Lawyers are also seeking ways to practice law that allow them to get home at night and on weekends, see their families, work full or part-time, practice in diverse and “alternative” settings, and generally pursue a meaningful career in the law rather than necessarily a total life in the law. Similarly, law students are hoping not to be asked to make a “pact with the Devil” as the cost of becoming a lawyer, and are instead looking to find areas in the law that fit with their personal, political, and economic preferences. An increasing number of legal academics are teaching, researching, and writing about progressive changes to the way we view the role and purpose of lawyering. Law faculties are actively reforming their programs and creating centres and initiatives designed to make space for innovative ethics offerings and public interest programs. Law societies and other regulatory bodies are slowly chipping away at some of the time-honoured shields of ethically suspect client behaviour, while at the same time facing demands for increased accountability. The bench and the bar are taking an active interest in addressing a perceived growing lack of professionalism within the practice. The public is increasingly skeptical of the distinction that continues to be drawn between legal ethics and “ordinary standards of moral conduct.” Finally, clients are not only expecting lawyers to actively canvass methods of alternative dispute resolution—the alternative to the adversarial and costly litigation process—but they are also demanding evidence of general sustainable professional practices from their legal counsel.

Collision in land legislation, as a source of operational legislation: in the example of the republic of Tajikistan

“…The term "sustainability" has not yet been applied to discussions about ethics and professionalism in a legal context [11]. Nowadays, the institution of sustainable development of society is applied to all spheres of public activity.…”

The Duty of Lawyers: Virtue Ethics and Pursuing a Hopeless Legal Case

“…30 The normative argument for weak adversarialism, by contrast, tends to focus on values such as truth-seeking in trials, and upon a responsibility of truthfulness towards the court, and also includes the need to protect the repute of truthful witnesses and the interests of third parties who may be damaged by the lawsuit. 31 A weak adversarialist is more concerned with the pursuit of utilitarian justice implying the reaching of a truthful result rather than just using the correct legal procedures and formalities (Farrow, 2008). A weak approach "honours the individual lawyer"s conscience by allowing the lawyer to do less than the lawyer"s adversarial best when the lawyer is certain that the client is factually guilty of the crime."…”

Untitled

“…30 The normative argument for weak adversarialism, by contrast, tends to focus on values such as truth-seeking in trials, and upon a responsibility of truthfulness towards the court, and also includes the need to protect the repute of truthful witnesses and the interests of third parties who may be damaged by the lawsuit. 31 A weak adversarialist is more concerned with the pursuit of utilitarian justice implying the reaching of a truthful result rather than just using the correct legal procedures and formalities (Farrow, 2008). A weak approach -honours the individual lawyer's conscience by allowing the lawyer to do less than the lawyer's adversarial best when the lawyer is certain that the client is factually guilty of the crime.‖ 32 If a lawyer opts to take a weak adversarial decision this must be communicated to the client as soon as the decision is made.…”