Document Type

Working Paper

Publication Date

9-23-2004

SSRN Discipline

Legal Scholarship Network; Law School Research Papers - Legal Studies; LSN Subject Matter eJournals; Law School Research Papers - Public Law & Legal Theory; Law & Humanities/Legal History Journals

Abstract

The Preamble to the bestknown source of lawyers ethical rules the American Bar Associations Model Rules of Professional Conduct uses the word public ten times In particular the Preamble repeatedly refers to lawyers as public citizens and to the ideals of public service However the practice of law rarely has a public focus Rather both the practice of law and the ethical rules focus on the clients and the lawyers interests rather than the interests of the public Indeed the current Model Rules are intentionally skewed toward a focus on the clients interests as is evident from examining the ethical rules in such areas as confidentiality and perjury a public focus often would require revealing client information whereas the current rules typically require concealment This Article asserts that the current focus on client interests is harming both the general public and the legal profession and urges changes to the Model Rules that would through a change in focus serve to redefine the profession to create a truly public profession

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