FACULTY OF LAW

JAMIA MILLIA ISLAMIA

CLINICAL COURSE IV ASSIGNMENT

ON

DUTIES OF ADVOCATE

SUBMITTED TO: - SUBMITTED BY:-

DR. MOHAMMAD ASAD MALIK AQUIB AHMAD
B.A.LLB (HONS)
SEM-X, SEC-B
 INDEX
1. Acknowledgement.
2. Introduction.
3. Framework for Discussion.
4. Rule of law.
5. Commitment of the rule of law.
6. Moral versus Legal Advice.
7. The lawyer in a global society.
8. The Global client.
9. Profession reflects society.
10. Corporate Social Responsibility.
11. Philanthropy.
12. It Isn’t Easy Being Green.
13. Legal Profession.
14. The Indian Legal Profession in Evolution.
15. Legal education.
16. Pre and Post-Independence Situation of Legal Education in India
17. Law Schools and Legal Education in India as Well As C.G.
18. Law schools – A new way out.
19. The problems we are facing this moment.
20. What are the duties of an advocate towards his client?
21. Conclusion.
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my teacher Dr. Mohammad. Asad Malik
who has given me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful project on the topic The Role of
Lawyer which also helped me in doing a lot of research and I came to know about so many new
things I am really thankful to them.

Secondly, I would also like to thank my parents and friends who helped me a lot in finalizing this
project within the limited time frame.

- Thank you.
Introduction

It has been argued that the defining feature of a profession is a commitment to promote and
preserve the public good that the interests of society are advanced by the existence of a genuine
legal profession rather than a legal industry in which lawyers operate businesses in the Law. The
challenge faced by the profession is to instil, in difficult times, the sense of a corporate
responsibility based on a genuine belief that the practise of the Law is a noble calling and not just
a job.1

The legal profession does not exist as of right. As are members of other professions, lawyers are
afforded privileges as part of a bargain with society, “in which they promise conscientiously to
serve the public interest – even if to do so may, at times, be at their own expense.”2 These privileges
include the right to self-regulate, the exclusive right to perform certain functions, and special
status.

The special status which lawyers enjoy in society is referred to a number of times in the Rules of
Professional Conduct of the Law Society of Upper Canada (“the Law Society”). For example,
Rule 1.03 provides that “a lawyer has special responsibilities by virtue of the privileges afforded
to the legal profession and the important role it plays in a free and democratic society and in the
administration of justice …” In a commentary to another Rule, it is stated definitively that, “A
lawyer's responsibilities are greater than those of a private citizen.”3

Few would argue that the special status of the legal profession in society has over time been eroded:

I know of no occupation more interesting, than to attempt to hold up to the lawyer, a faithful picture
of his [or her] real mission. It then will be seen, that a large number of the lawyers are delinquents
to society, not with malice prepense, but from a failure to appreciate the real and full nature of
their professional duties.4

1
Simon Longstaff, The lawyer’s duty to the community, St. James Ethics Centre, 1995.
2
Ibid.
3
See the commentary to Law Society Rule 4.06(1), Encouraging Respect for the Administration of Justice.
4
John R. Dos Passos, The American Lawyer: As He Was - As He Is - As He Can Be (New York: The Banks Publishing
Co., 1907) at 4-6; see also: Kenneth M. Rosen. “Lessons on Lawyers, Democracy, and Professional Responsibility”,
(Winter 2006) 19 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 155 at 159 (Lexis).
The goal of this symposium is to establish ‘Principles of Professionalism’. Your group is being
asked to develop principles which specifically address a lawyer’s duty to society.

Framework for Discussion.

Accepting that lawyers have ‘bargained’ with society in exchange for certain rights and privileges,
the terms of the bargain must be examined and, perhaps, renegotiated from time to time; “society”
is not a static entity.

What does ‘Duty to Society’ mean in the twenty-first century? Your examination of this duty is
being made:

 At a time when mistrust of institutions is widespread. Lawyers have historically fallen

below bankers and financiers in popular opinion polls of trustworthiness. Given the events
of the past year, the legal profession (through no efforts of its own) might move ahead a
few positions if such a poll were taken today;
 In the context of globalization. Lawyers today work with clients whose interests are
international and who deal with individuals, institutions, and governments which may
function without regard for democracy and/or the Rule of Law.
 With respect to a population that has changed significantly in the past half-century. Ethnic
diversity in Canada has significantly increased. Progress in terms of gender issues has been
made, but problems remain.
 In an era in which ‘corporate social responsibility’ is increasingly important. The public
purse no longer provides for the welfare of every member of society. Corporate
philanthropy has become part of the main stream. Individuals and institutions (corporate
or otherwise) are being asked not only to consider the well-being of the people who live on
this planet but of the planet itself.5

5
A phrase which has its origins in the late nineteenth century (1885).
The Rule of Law

The ‘Rule of Law’ is a term to which reference is frequently made. The focus of the 2008
Advocates’ Society international trip was the rule of law. Yet, it is doubtful that every member of
the legal profession is capable of articulating the meaning of the term.

To define “Rule of Law” for the purpose of this Symposium, we need look no further than the
most recent edition of The Advocates’ Journal. A 2006 speech by The Right Honourable Lord
Bingham of Cornwall, “Fundamentals of the rule of law”, is reprinted therein. He defines the
principle in a single sentence as:

All persons and authorities within the state, whether public or private, should be bound by, and
entitled to, the benefit of laws publicly and prospectively promulgated and publicly administered.6

Lord Bingham expands upon this definition by providing eight sub-rules. Not every one of the
eight sub-rules are relevant to the discussion which this Symposium is intended to foster. The sub-
rules that may be meaningful to the discussion are:

 That the law must afford adequate protection of human rights;

 That the laws of the land should apply equally to all, save and except that objective
differences justify distinction; and
 That the rule of law requires compliance by the state with its obligations in international
law.7

Lord Bingham concludes his discussion of the rule of law, referring to it as, “a principle of such
manifest and fundamental importance as to animate not only our professional lives, but our lives
as members of our respective societies.”8

6
The Advocates’ Journal, Winter 2008,
7
Ibid., at pages 3, 4 and 5.
8
Ibid., at page 6.
Commitment to the Rule of Law

Both the Law Society Rules of Professional Conduct and the CBA Code of Professional Conduct
include the following passage in commentaries to their respective provisions relating to the
administration of justice:

The admission to and continuance in the practice of law implies on the part of a lawyer a basic
commitment to the concept of equal justice for all within an open, ordered, and impartial system.9

The Canadian legal system is rooted in the two pillars of democracy and the rule of law. If lawyers
are the officers and/or guardians of the Canadian legal system, then they arguably have a
professional responsibility to support, and even stand up for those principles. In late 2007, lawyers
from across Canada did just that in response to the plight of their colleagues in Pakistan.

These supportive demonstrations came in response to the decision of former Pakistani President
General Musharraf to declare emergency rule. The declaration was precipitated in part by the
decision of the Pakistani Supreme Court to hear a challenge to the ability of President Musharraf
to run for another term as head of state while he remained head of the Pakistani military. 10 The
state of emergency included the suspension of the country’s Constitution, the dissolution of the
Supreme Court and the four provincial High Courts, the detention and house arrest of the Chief
Justice of the Supreme Court, the detention of judges in the High Courts and other judicial officers,
and the silencing of privately owned television news channels.11 Amongst those arrested and held
behind bars, one in four was a lawyer. Eighty per cent of the judiciary was jailed.12 In December
2007, over 300 members of the Canadian legal community marched through Ottawa in support of
their legal and judicial colleagues in Pakistan. They carried with them a banner that read “Lawyers
defending the rule of law”. CBA president Bernard Amyot made the following remarks at the
Ottawa march:

Today, in front of the Supreme Court of Canada - a symbol of the rule of law - we express our
outrage at the treatment endured by our colleagues in Pakistan. We wish to reaffirm our

9
Supra, footnote 3, and Chapter III, Commentary 1, CBA Code of Professional Conduct.
10
Calotta Gall and Jane Perlez, “For Musharraf, Reduced Power as the President”.
11
Jane Perlez and David Rhode, “Pakistan Attempts to Crush Protests by Lawyers”.
12
Helen Burnett, “Lawyers support colleagues in Pakistan”.
commitment to the fundamental principle of the independence of judges and lawyers, and of the
rule of law in a free and fair society.13 In Toronto, more than 400 lawyers (members of the Law
Society and/or the Ontario Bar Association) participated in a gathering in front of Osgood Hall.14

The LAW SOCIETY issued a news release in which it stated that: The Law Society stands with
its colleagues in Pakistan who are engaged in upholding the Rule of Law at this difficult time. We
recognize that lawyers have a unique role to play in sustaining and developing democratic
principles and commend our colleagues for their vigilance and their courage. The erosion of
respect of the rule of law elsewhere threatens its tenuous position even in the most democratic
societies.15 To date, many of the judges and other judicial officers who were removed by President
Musharraf have still not been reinstated by (now) President Zardari.16 The Law Society issued a
news release in November 2008 addressing the failure on the part of the current government of
Pakistan to restore the Chief Justice of Pakistan and 14 Supreme Court judges to their respective
positions, noting:

…with dismay that the elected government has tacitly accepted General Pervez Musharraf’s
unconstitutional actions and has taken no substantive steps to reverse the unconstitutional actions
of November 3rd, 2007. The Law Society of Upper Canada urges the government of Pakistan to
reinstate all members of the judiciary who were summarily dismissed by former President
Musharraf, and to work with both judges and lawyers to ensure the full operation of the rule of law
and constitutional entitlements in Pakistan.17 Other examples of the commitment of members of
the legal profession to the rule of law include the creation of, continued promotion of, and
participation in Canadian Lawyers Abroad. This organization facilitates lawyers and articling
students to work on overseas projects by brokering relationships with entities such as the Kosovo
Law Centre.18 Another example is the CBA program, “Engaging Civil Society in Democratic
Development”. In this project, Canadian lawyers work in conjunction with the Nepal Bar

13
Ibid.
14
Ontario Bar Association news release issued November 30, 2007: “The Law Society of Upper Canada and the
Ontario Bar Association hold gathering calling for the return of the rule of law in Pakistan”.
15
Law Society of Upper Canada, Media Release, “The Law Society of Upper Canada expresses grave concerns
about the dismantling of the rule of law in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan” (November 9, 2007).
16
Law Society of Upper Canada, Media Release “The Law Society of Upper Canada expresses its support for
lawyers and judges in Pakistan following the first anniversary of ouster of judges in Pakistan” (November 11, 2008).
17
Ibid.
18
For more information regarding international initiatives of Lawyers.
Association. The goal of the program is to assist Nepalis in exercising their democratic rights and
advocating for laws that protect these rights in a manner that reflects the culture, traditions and
preferences of all Nepalese citizens.19 Lawyers, at least to some degree, accept and internalize the
principles of democracy and the rule of law. The professional responsibility to understand and
support these principles arises by virtue of the critical role that lawyers play in democracy and the
rule of law.20 Given recent world events, including those in Pakistan, does the definition of
professionalism require a re-dedication to or re-statement of that role?

Moral versus Legal Advice

Is a lawyer required to make an assessment of the ethics of client behaviour and, in doing so,
provide moral in addition to legal advice? As long as the conduct of the lawyer in carrying out his
or her work is not illegal, does it matter that the end result of providing the service is wrong in the
context of the morals of society?

Consider these questions against the backdrop of an example taken from the post 9/11 political
climate. In 2002, two White House counsel, John Yoo and Jay S. Bybee, were asked to provide a
legal analysis of whether the interrogation methods used by the CIA on captured enemy
combatants violated the Convention Against Torture And Other Cruel, Inhuman, Or Degrading
Treatment (the “Torture Convention”), or otherwise created grounds for prosecution under
domestic laws or by the International Criminal Court.21 Messrs. Yoo and Bybee issued an 81page
legal memorandum, commonly referred to as the “Torture Memo”. They argued that in order for
an act to constitute torture the act must cause extreme pain. They defined “extreme pain” as being
equivalent in intensity to the pain accompanying serious physical injury, such as organ failure,
impairment of bodily function, or death.22 The definition was derived, not from consideration of

19
See www.cba.org/CBA/idp/programs/nepal/aspx
20
One author suggests that a rededication by lawyers to meeting their responsibility to democracy might help to
alleviate public scepticism of the legal profession.
21
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Deputy Assistant General, “Memorandum for William J. Haynes IT,
General Counsel of the Department of Defense, Re: Military Interrogation of Alien Unlawful Combatants Held
Outside the United States”.
22
Ibid. at page 38
international human rights law, or law of war, but from United States federal health-care laws
concerning emergency medical conditions for the purpose of providing health benefits.23

The Torture Memo proved to be the basis for coercive techniques used against several detainees
at Guantanamo Bay as well as in Iraq and Afghanistan.24 Critics of Messrs. Woo and Bybee focus
not on the fact of the advice being provided but on the manner in which it was provided – without
consideration for what the client (the U.S. Government) was going to do with the advice. Critics
suggest that the Torture Memo was written with complete disregard of the consequences of
undermining both U.S. and international laws which prohibit torture and cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment. The authors of the Torture Memo are said to have been, “indifferent as to
how their legal advice would be applied in the real world by the Bush administration.” 25 It is
arguable that the authors of the Torture Memo served their client’s interests above all others. One
author has described this approach to a lawyer’s obligations as a component of the ‘thin view’ of
professionalism.26 Adherents to the thin view argue that there is no residual duty to society if the
lawyer’s duties to the client, the courts, and the Law are discharged.

The authors of the Torture Memo may have believed that they balanced their duty to their client
against their duty to society on the basis that although some individuals might be harmed as a result
of the advice given the client, the aggregate of this harm would be less than would exist if the
authors failed to diligently serve the interests of their client – the U.S. Government (and, by
extension, the people of the United States) in the post-9/11 era. In contrast, the ‘thick’ view of
professionalism requires that the lawyer’s duty to society is paramount to the lawyer’s duties to
the courts and to the Law. To act in a way that might reasonably be foreseen to be contrary to
public interest is inconsistent with the defining characteristic of a profession.27 Therefore,
members of the legal profession who, when acting for clients, support harmful activity demonstrate
a failure to understand that which is required to fulfill the profession’s duty to society. Following
the thick view of professionalism would require that a lawyer provide moral advice to a client and,
at the very least, not ignore what his or her client is going to do with that advice.28 The Law Society

23
Ibid.
24
Milan Markovic, “Can lawyers be war criminals?” 20 Geo. J. Legal Ethics 347.
25
Ibid, at page 2.
26
Supra, footnote 1.
27
Supra, footnote 1.
28
Supra, footnote 22 at page 355.
Rules of Professional Conduct arguably place the lawyer’s duty to society above the duty to the
client by requiring that the lawyer consider the end result of his or her advice in terms of the morals
of society. Rule 4.01(2) states that, “When acting as an advocate, a lawyer shall not knowingly
assist or permit the client to do anything that the lawyer considers to be dishonest or
dishonourable.”

Are lawyers in Ontario, by virtue of their membership in the Law Society, proponents of the
‘thick’ view of professionalism? If so, must the ‘Principles of Professionalism’ to which you have
been asked to contribute include a statement that the duty to society is paramount to the duties to
the client, the court, and the Law?

The Lawyer in a Global Society

To inquire as to the nature of a lawyer’s duty to society begs the question, “Which society?” In
recent months, in particular in relation to the impact of the economic crisis in the United States or
the economies of the rest of the world, journalists have repeatedly referred to matters in terms of
“geo-politics”. In an era of globalization, with law firms having offices and clients not only
throughout the country, but throughout the world, lawyers might be described as ‘geo
professionals’.

What are the responsibilities and obligations of the legal geo-professional? This paper provides
an example, from recent world events, as the basis for discussion of this question: A corporation,
with operations throughout the world, assists a foreign government to investigate (if not prosecute
and convict) a journalist for doing nothing more than send an e-mail message with news of events
in the journalist’s home country.

The Global Client

Should the ‘Principles of Professionalism’ include reference to work with clients whose interests
are international and which may require dealing directly or indirectly with governments and/or
laws which run contrary to the rule of law or, at a minimum, fall short of the rights and freedoms
enjoyed in Canada?

Consider for example, the case of the Chinese journalist, Shi Tao, working for the newspaper
Contemporary Business News. He was warned by the Chinese government not to overplay the
15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Mr. Tao subsequently used a Yahoo! e-mail
account to relay the anniversary events to a New York website called Democracy Forum. The
Chinese government sought to prosecute the Chinese journalist. Yahoo!’s Hong Kong division
readily gave the Chinese government the e-mail account information for Mr. Tao. Mr. Shi was
prosecuted for “illegally providing state secrets abroad” and sentenced to ten years imprisonment.

Yahoo! claimed that it was simply following the Chinese law. It is unclear whether Yahoo’s
action was voluntary or carried out in response to a Court order. Some argue that Yahoo! played
a crucial role in linking the contents of the e-mail to Mr. Shi. Others argue that the email account
information was merely supplemental to the investigation, as the Chinese authorities had enough
information to convict Mr. Shi without the information provided by Yahoo! Regardless of the
significance of the information provided by Yahoo!, the question for consideration is the conduct
of Yahoo! in acceding to a request for information which it knew if provided would support the
efforts of a repressive regime.

It is clear that Yahoo!’s motivation in carrying on business in China is economic and not the
promotion of human rights or international law. As a member of the business ‘community’ in
China, was the only requirement for Yahoo! that it follow local, albeit oppressive, law? Or, were
the company’s responsibilities and obligations under customary international laws and principles
paramount? What advice is a lawyer to give the client when faced with the option of advising a
client to adhere to the local law of an oppressive regime or to abide by and conduct itself in
accordance with the rules and principals of international law?

The Profession Reflects Society

It has been said that one of the “building blocks” of professionalism is leadership.29 Does that
leadership role encompass acting as “catalysts to influence change”30 in an effort to ensure that the
makeup of the profession changes as the makeup of society changes?

The Law Society of Upper Canada Rules of Professional Conduct and the CBA Code of
Professional Conduct both contain provisions which prohibit discriminatory practises.31
However, in neither document is there a provision which requires members of the profession to
specifically promote diversity within the profession.

The Law Society of Upper Canada recently embarked upon a consultation process directed towards
the retention of women in the profession. The end result is a report which addresses not only the
increasing number of women who are leaving the profession but the “historic underrepresentation”
of women who are members of Aboriginal, Francophone, and/or equality seeking communities.
The authors unequivocally state that, “It is in the public interest for the providers of private legal
services to reflect the makeup of the society in which we live.”32 The authors of the report clearly
take the obligations of the profession with respect to diversity further than does either of the Law
Society Rules and CBA Code.

If the providers of private legal services are to reflect the makeup of society, then diversity within
the profession must be based on more than gender alone and include diversity of individuals based
on race, ethnicity, sexuality, etc. Is the “makeup” of society limited to the personal characteristics
of its members? Or, does the “makeup” of society also refer to changing societal norms and
prevailing philosophies?

Some would argue that the profession has been extremely remiss in responding to the changing
family norms in society. Until the past half-century, the working force, both professional and non-
professional, was dominated by men with stay-at-home spouses. As a result, members of the legal

29
Chief Justice of Ontario Advisory Committee on Professionalism, Working Group o the Definition of
Professionalism, December 2001, the Gazette, Professionalism: A Century of Perspectives, 2002, at 28-38.
30
Law Society, Consultation Report – Retention of Women in Private Practice Working Group (Executive Summary),
Overview, Item 5 (February 21, 2008).
31
See rule 5.04(1) of the Law Society Rules of Professional Conduct and Chapter XX of the CBA Code of
Professional Conduct.
32
Ibid.
profession were able, and perhaps even expected, to devote the vast majority of their time and their
energy to their role as lawyers.

Lawyers today include not only men (and women) with stay-at-home spouses, but lawyers with
spouses and/or partners who are also professionals or have otherwise demanding jobs, single
parents, divorced parents, and individuals with the demands of significant elder care. Many young
lawyers in particular – whether male or female – share equally in the parenting and household
roles that historically fell to the stay-at-home wife. Reference to the term ‘work life balance’ is
more often than not made by the younger and/or newer members of the profession. With life
expectancies increasing, older lawyers find themselves with the significant demands of elder care.
In summary, traditional ‘family’ roles have changed in the past 50 years.

In “Elements of Professionalism”,33 professional success is said to be about, “attitudes and

character, and [to require] energy, drive, initiative, commitment, involvement and – above all –
enthusiasm.” It is also suggested therein that what separates professionals from non-professionals
is that the former provide a service as a matter of obligation. Is it possible for a member of the
profession to ‘balance’ the fulfilment of all of these attributes with increased demands in relation
to home and family?

Is the current demand – regardless of its source – for a less demanding culture and/or work
environment a reflection of the erosion of the importance of professionalism in today’s society?
Or, does the demand for such change signal that it is time to re-consider the terms of the bargain
as to what professionalism means based on current societal norms?

Corporate Social Responsibility

Traditionally, A lawyer’s opportunity to fulfill his or her duty to community has historically been
fulfilled through active participation in the governance of community affairs.34 For example, by
participation in local political activism, sitting on boards of local institutions, or spearheading and
participating in legal education efforts. The latter might include speaking at local bar association

33
Chief Justice of Ontario, Advisory Committee on Professionalism, “Elements of Professionalism”, October 2001.
34
Rosen, supra note 3, at page190.
education seminars or accepting a teaching position on the law faculty of a local university. It may
also include providing legal services on a voluntary or pro bono basis at local legal clinics.

Philanthropy

The title of this section of the paper is taken from an article which appeared in the Business Section
of the December 17, 2008 Globe and Mail. The article focused on the importance to corporations
of philanthropic activities in the communities in which they do business. It was therein suggested
that the ‘standard’ level of corporate giving is one per cent of pre-tax profits.

As noted in the ‘framework’ section of this paper, the increasing emphasis on corporate
philanthropy is in part a result of the decrease in government spending in support of various
charitable and other non-profit activities. In today’s economic climate and for the foreseeable
future, that decrease is unlikely to be reversed. Is the decrease in government support for such
activities yet another change in the norms of society leading to the requirement to re-consider the
terms of the bargain which the legal profession has with society?

That is not to suggest that members of the legal profession – whether individually or through firm
donations – have been uncharitable to date. To the contrary, members of the legal profession are
among community leaders in terms of their support of charitable and non-profit organizations.
However, the economy is not what it once was. Harbingers of doom suggest that there is risk of
not only a lengthy recession but an economic depression.

Even in difficult economic times, lawyers are likely to remain, for the most part, members of the
middle to upper classes. In these changing economic times, is there a requirement to specifically
identify the philanthropic obligations of the legal profession? Should the legal profession promote
a ‘standard’ level of philanthropy amongst its members (whether it is one per cent of pre-tax profits
or otherwise)? What opportunities, other than through financial contributions, are there for the
legal profession to make philanthropic contributions? Should those nonmonetary opportunities
also be reflected in a Principle of Professionalism?
It Isn’t Easy Being Green

Former Vice-President Al Gore won an Academy Award and was a leading member of the
organization which won the Nobel Peace Prize for work with respect to climate change. He is in
large part responsible for making the environment and climate change part of the main stream
consciousness. In our everyday lives we ‘think green’ in some way; whether it is through our use
a blue box at home and in our offices, a donation to a wildlife fund, or the decision to use public
transit, a bicycle, or our feet instead of driving our cars.

Does the duty to society require something more than the use of a blue box in our offices? How
‘green’ must the profession become? Legal publications are replete with articles on the ‘greening’
of offices. The August 2008 issue of Canadian Lawyer Magazine includes an article titled, “Going
green; The not so inconvenient truth about how to reduce your firm’s environmental impact”. The
article provides six tips on how to initiate a green movement within law firms. The sidebar to the
article makes reference to CBA and American Bar Association ‘green’ initiatives.35 The CBA
initiatives began at least 17 years ago and include the 1993 Eco-Practicum: The Canadian Bar
Association Guide to the Environmentally Responsible Law Office. The CBA is working on
updating the practicum.

In a 2008 Harvard Business Review article, “Should Managers Have a Green Hippocratic Oath?”,
it isstated that the next generation of business managers will, because of the scope of the challenge
which climate change presents, have to become more socially oriented. In support of that
statement, the authors of the article suggest that:

Management, in other words, will have to become more like the learned professions of medicine
and law. Professions such as these are, at least in theory, characterized by an orientation to serving
society - and they have something the profession of management does not have – a normative code
or oath that encourages leaders to consider the broader implications of their actions.

Few would argue that an awareness of climate change and the damage which humans are doing to
the planet is not a ‘norm’ of society today. Is this a new societal norm to which the legal profession

35
Signature song of Muppet, Kermit the Frog.
must respond? Is the response so significant that it is to be incorporated into the Principles of
Professionalism?

Legal Profession

Legal profession has been regarded from times information and all over the world as a very
honourable, prestigious and proud profession. A lawyer has an important and dignified place in
the society and he is respected by one and all because of the fact that he carried on a most
intellectual profession and what is more because he fights for justice. Lawyers have been in the
forefront generations, in every aspect of social and political development in every country. Most
of the politicians of the world are and were lawyers and therefore lawyers can truly be regarded as
a maker of history. It is not merely their role in the courts for the case of justice to their respective
parties that enable them to win an envious place in the society but also their multi -pronged attack
on the evils that decease the several aspects of the society and for winning a just place even for the
under–dog in society.

Sri P.V. Rajamannar, the former Chief Justice of Madras

High Court explains the importance of legal profession thus: In the forefront I will place the
special feature of the lawyers profession, which is also shared by the doctor profession, viz that it
is independent profession. Through you may have onerous duties and obligations; you will not be
a servant of any master. You will be instead servant of the country. It is pleasure to describe the
lawyers profession and the doctors; profession as noble profession. In Christian countries the
clergy man profession is also spoken as such. This is chiefly, because member of these three
professions unlike person who follow other avocations, offer their services, expert services, to
people in trouble. The fees or emoluments they are paid does not depend upon any result. This
very characteristic common to these three professions has sometime given rise to cynical
comments. A character in one of Scott; novel, a hard-working farmer, exclaims, Hell Heaven, the
clergyman is paid; win or lose the lawyer is paid; deal or alive, the is paid; but this is only a
superficial criticism. The truth is that the lawyers and the doctor place all their knowledge and
skillet the disposal of their clients, and their duty consists only in this. So long as a judge or a
doctor does his duty he is not concerned with anything else, he is not answerable to anyone. (3)
The judges, by reason of their intellectual training and the knowledge of human nature, which they
acquire by first-hand contact with person, have great opportunities of becoming leaders of public
opinion. Indeed, at one time, the lawyer occupied a very prominent place in the political life of our
country. It is only in the later stage of our national struggle that many of the leading judges-
politicians fell behind because participation in the political agitation meant abandoning their
practice. Through the struggle is at an end and independence has been gained, it must be confessed
that judge has not regained his previous prestige his previous prestige and influence in political
life. But, I am optimistic enough to think that the lawyer is bound to come to the forefront in the
near future. Our country is governed by a democratic Constitution, and in the present set up the
judges will naturally become the custodians of the Fundamental Rights of the people.

The above hope expressed by the distinguished Chief Justice, way back in 1955, is now gradually
taking shape and the legal profession in India is assuming greater and greater importance and
lawyers as a whole are emerging as a force to reckon with, to fight for justice and for civil liberties.
The nobility of this profession evidenced by the fact that young lawyers are now then coming out
in defense of personal liberty of the subject and are doing this sacred service in several cases almost
free of cost. this fact goes to show that in India the legal profession accepts its sacred responsibility
of safeguarding the Fundamental Rights of the citizen and it is a great relieving factor that there
are at least some prominent lawyers who rise above the temptation of gain from the professional
and come our openly to render free service. Indeed this is what is expected of this reputed
profession as has been explained by Sir Chandra Reddy, Frmer Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh
and Madras High Courts in his address to young lawyers,which is as follows –

“As I have already said, yours is a profession and not a business, and there are certain
characteristics which distinguish the legal profession from business. Your relation to your Clint is
of a fiduciary character in the highest degree. You are an officer of court in regard to the
administration of justice involving among other things integrity and reliability. Your relation to
your colleagues at the Bar is characterized by candour. Fairness and unwillingness to resort to
current business methods of advertising and encroachment of their practices and dealing directly
with their clients. You have a duty of public service, the emoluments being only a bye-produce.”
Own and then there may be some adverse criticism a giant the legal profession. It is necessary for
the members of this honorable profession o take this criticism in their proper perspective and make
a heart – search as to what deficiencies exactly have provoked such criticism. Another former
Judge Sri D. Munikanniah, has rightly observed –

It had been the tendency in few quarters to malign the profession and its practitioners as defeaters
of the law and mockers of its Majesty. They are accused of promoting strife and disputes. It is
often pointed out that they act in disregard of truth, and that an Advocate is a venal person, who is
apt to prostitute his talents for money.

An extreme view that a legal practitioner is a parasite infesting the community and has to be
extirpating finds expression as a result of ignorance of the truth functions of a lawyer. All this
would be turn if commercialism and trade spirit which dwarfs the soul of a man is regarded as a
spring to actions d conduct of an advocate. But if you can persuade yourself that you are an
important limb in the administration of justice and for establishing the rule of law with a view to
promote the welfare of the people; you will be serving the cause of the country for the purpose
specified in Article 30 of the India Constitution. Your assistance will be valuable in making the
Government realizes that the taxation power that it has, is to be used only for prevention of poverty.
You should be impelled by a sense of duty to check even Government who happened to be rigorous
when necessary but weak when possible and decry the old ideas of laissez faire and revolutionize
notion of liberty. It is not only the Judges but Advocates also that could be of help to rouse the
consciousness for promoting welfare of the people and it is noteworthy that the achievements and
the development of ideas promulgated under the general welfare clause in the American
Constitution should treating it as the guiding light….it is also noteworthy to observe that lawyers
settled more quarrels than they assisted to fight; and it is a truism that a good deal of a body of law
is concerned with preventing disputes. The primary duty of binging about the compromise between
parties with a view to sure lasting peace cannot be over emphasized. (3)

The profession of law is a profession that is concerned with of the mind; the mind and not the
imagination is the instrument. The conscious materials of our professional are of the mind, process
of reasoning. To belong to be a profession that has the great history of the legal profession, a
profession that is concerned with the things of the mind, with subjecting questions to the reasoning
processes and justification by reason, is a great traditional. A tradition, if it is worthy of the name
is not wealth hoarded, it is a dynamic energy to be applied. It is a great tradition that the legal
profession is entitled to claim for itself in the unfolding of modern constitutional government by
law. It is the legal profession beyond any other calling that is concerned with those establishments,
those processes, those criteria, those appeals to reason and right, which had a dominant share in
begetting civilized modern society. And that means a learned profession. That means drawing on
the juices of your life, from almost every domain of learning, because if the law is concerned with
the regulation of problems concerning society, then it is necessary to be informed or at least aware
of the multitudinous, multifarious forces, with which society is concerned and which affect society.
(4)

The Indian Legal Profession in Evolution

The legal profession in India is in the throes of change today; the onset of liberalization and
globalization of the Indian economy and culture has left it no other choice. It has to sink or survive
what with the anticipation of foreign lawyers soon being allowed to practice in the hallowed
precincts of Indian courts. By all counts, the Bar and the Bench that were established with such
socialistic ardours and ideals, are beginning to become unwieldy with cumbersome court
procedures, belated and repeated adjournments and the threat of loss of clientele as a result.
Perhaps it is too soon to sound the death knell of the grand edifice of Indian law, especially with
its lasting linkages with the British Raj and English law that have continued to fascinate young
Indians even to this day.

Yet ideals must yield to expediency when the economic basis to hold aloft those ideals cannot be
maintained in any tenable form. Legal education today is very expensive and drawn out and, as a
result, creates great expectations among the hordes of LLBs who graduate and join the legal system
every year, but with no ready or willing chambers to take them in. Nor do any other worthwhile
prospects exist for them except perhaps to take up jobs as paid executives or salaried counsel. As
a baneful consequence of this limited space for legal professionals, the vast majority of newly-
graduated lawyers must find alternative avenues of employment outside their professional
expertise.
This development is a singular tragedy for the Indian republic and its legal and educational systems
because no proper planning was undertaken to meet such disastrous contingencies. Therefore, it is
not surprising that a whole generation of disreputable "street lawyers" has developed as a
consequence who poke their noses into every human activity outside the courts in the name of
safeguarding the public interest.

Needy lawyers are unwelcomed in the legal profession; so are excessively privileged ones. What
the legal system lacks is a core of competent professionals with modest monetary ambitions who
can do the daily, methodical and mundane work of the courts without having to resort to deceit
and skull duggery to earn their fees.

Democracy cannot survive without law and lawyers. Hence it is a continuing and tragic malaise of
Indian democracy that those who need legal services the most do not have ready access to them.
Not because clients do not have the means to pay but simply because they cannot find honest and
dedicated lawyers to take up their briefs.In the newer dispensation of post-reform India, there are
no freebies available; neither is their free time! All are pushed into making a living without any
pretensions to nobility or grandeur. There is real sanity here; not the vanity of a bygone era when
legal heavyweights slugged it out in the courts with fancy language and fancier arguments - all the
while forgetting the poor client whose cause was lost in the din and drama enacted before the court
gallery.

In the new regime of law imposed by economic exigency, the legal system needs to train a body
of "paralegals", who with merely a two-year diploma in Law, can solve many of the immediate
and pressing problems facing ordinary clients - without having to take recourse to the older
procedures and formalities of the law that cost clients so much time and money without yielding
anything substantive in return.(5)

One of the most controversial issues that has plagued the legal profession in the few years has
been the changing nature of Indian legal profession in the era of globalization. This inevitable
debate revolves around major issues of objectives of legal profession, consumerism, social justice,
Indian commitment to WTO regime, competition law etc. The Advocates Act, 1961 and the Bar
Council of India Rules, 1975 are the rules which regulate the legal services sector in India and the
Bar Council constituted under Advocates Act acts as the final regulating body. On one side a group
of legal professional argues that shift in trade nature of legal services shall hamper „professional
ethics‟ and concept of „justice to all‟.(6) Whereas, other side argues that the regulations imposed
on the legal services sector are anti-competitive and contrary to the goals and purpose of
competition policy and Competition Act, 2002.(7) This paper argues that changing nature of legal
profession should be accepted wholeheartedly and any further restrictions on enlarging legal
service sector would further hamper their growth and development. India has the worlds second
largest legal profession with more than 600,000 lawyers. (8) The predominant service providers are
individual lawyers, small or family based firms. (9) Most of the firms are involved in the issues of
domestic law and majority work under countries adversarial litigation system. The conception of
legal services as a „noble profession‟ rather than services resulted in formulation of stringent and
restrictive regulatory machinery. These regulations have been justified on the grounds of public
policy and „dignity of profession‟(10) The judiciary has reinforced these principles which can be
reflected in words of Justice Krishna Iyer, when he noted “Law is not a trade, not briefs, not
merchandise, and so the heaven of commercial competition should not vulgarize the legal
profession”.(11)

Legal Education:

While the teaching of black letter legal-doctrines is an important function of the law institute
(college), it is not the only function. What is needed beyond the teaching of doctrine and technique
is a system of legal training devised to „aid‟ the developing lawyer to acquire certain skills of
thought, goal thinking and scientific thinking.

The student needs to clarify his moral values, social goals, he needs to orient himself in past trends
and future goals, he needs to acquire the scientific knowledge and skills necessary to implement
objectives within the context of contemporary trends. The law institutes must provide a realistic
and comprehensive picture of the structure and functions of society and will also be oriented
towards the implementing of a consistent and explicit set of democratic values. He will not only
be lawyer for the future but also be a social technician or social engineer. (12)

Legitimate aim of legal education is to seek to promote the major values of democratic society and
to reduce the number of immoral things. In a democratic society there cannot be a complete answer
as to what constitute preferred values, unless some such values are chosen, carefully defined,
explicitly made at the students students focus of attention that the automatically applies them to
every conceivable practical and theoretical situation, all the talk of integrating law and social
science, or of making law more effective instrument of social is twiddling futility- the only
conceivable purpose for developing an interdisciplinary approach to legal education is to use the
social sciences as a medium through which to immerse the law student in certain values which are
deemed to representative of the values of democracy. The student may be allowed to reject the
morals of democracy. The student may be allowed to reject the morals of democracy and embrace
those values. The fundamental difficulty is after all one of intellectual attitude and conception: the
failure to attack legal problems functionally and its corollary, a static view of law.

Social and economic change might, in time, engender the necessary changes in legal thinking. But
a very long time would probably be required; legal education, by shaping the men and minds that
will address themselves to the problems of law, offers the best hope of accelerating and consciously
assisting the process. The quality and style of Indian legal education that was prevailing for the
last fifty years was unsatisfactory. So obviously it did not attract first-class minds as students or as
teachers. Facilities, including the all-important library, are poor and not properly maintained. The
Indian law teacher had to cope with a low salary and a heavy teaching load; fifteen to eighteen
hours a week are normal for full-time lecturers. Whereas, if a good hard-working student works
for 5-7years in a High Court or other court he earns a good handsome amount at the end of the
month. There is no established tradition of legal scholarship as an integral part of a teacher’s life
and duties. On the other hand, these teach could not participate in different projects as an advisor
to guide them legally. Indeed, with the heavy teaching load and inadequate library facilities, such
a tradition could hardly be supported. Many law colleges have only a couple of full-time teachers;
the rest are part-time (which tends to mean no-time except for the classroom hours. (13)

The composition of the teaching staff is unfortunate in that it tends to stifle and discourage good,
younger men. The faculty takes a paramedical form, with a large base of no tenure lecturers, a
smaller group of tenure readers (roughly associate professors), and one or two professors at the
apex. As a consequence, it is impossible to get at any one place a sufficiently large group of really
energetic, talented teachers. Younger men of capacity who see no room at the top prefer to accept
professorial status and related prerogatives elsewhere. The relatively small supply of talent is thus
spread far too widely, many younger scholars of capacity going to schools where they ultimately
give up the struggle for scholarly achievement. The premedical structure encourages intrigue and
personal jealousies. It results in overloading the professor with administrative and committee
duties. For these reasons, as well as others deriving from the position of law and the legal
profession in society, Indian legal education has to date had few outstanding scholars, teachers, or
academic leaders. Most Indian law men of first-rate ability-- and India has had a significant number
of energetic and talented lawyers--have preferred to make their careers at the important
commercial bars, before the higher courts, or on the bench.

Pre and Post-Independence Situation of Legal Education in India

When India gained its independence in 1947, its legal profession and legal teaching were thus not
able to play the role they ought, by Western standards, to have played. The politician, the
economist, and the engineer were expected to remake the society. The law was to assist in the form
of public law and administrative law, but private law and the legal profession claimed only a small
and marginal role in social change. Since independence, the situation has deteriorated further.
India, with its mixed economy and its significant planning efforts, makes extensive use of laws
and of regulations. Administration, however, is largely in the hands of bureaucrats in whose
recruitment legal training does not carry significant weight except for specifically legal jobs; the
role of the legal profession as a whole is ordinarily restricted to giving advice after trouble
develops. Indians elaborate written constitution, as applied to a diverse society in rapid change,
would seem to require a wise and effective legal profession, but the flow of talent into the
profession had declined. Before independence the lawyer had enjoyed some degree of self-
determination, had frequently been educated abroad usually in England, and was often prominent
in the independence movement. As foreign exchange became scarce, India had to rely increasingly
on domestic legal education. Moreover, neither the economic rewards of the profession, nor its
social standing, nor the perceived opportunities for contributing to the new and better India were
such as to attract capable young men to law. India today presents the paradox--one frequently
encountered in the contemporary world of a society that makes extensive use of laws but lacks a
legal profession that understands law as an instrument of economic and social architecture. In India
today, there are several obstacles to the development of social control. To begin with, many of the
rules and institutions of the common law as received by India are still in varying degrees either
alien to the traditional society or inappropriate for the kind of social and economic development
that India is now undertaking. A subtler difficulty, and perhaps a more crucial one in the long run,
is whether India will understand some of the very basic assumptions that underlie and inform
Western law. Moreover, understanding need not imply acceptance. The traditions and
requirements of Indian society may call for a legal order more meditational in its nature than the
common law one emphasizing adjustment more than vindication of a rather abstract justice. These
are matters that relate to economic and social realities and to philosophical and cultural traditions
in good measure, though by no means completely, they are beyond the control of the legal
profession. A further o bstacle to contemporary Indians understanding the potential contribution
of law and of the legal profession is suggested by a sociological proposition that may have
universal validity: In societies in which the law in the books does not reflect fairly accurately the
communities accepted and operative values, the lawyer tends to be looked upon as a manipulator.
Individuals turn to law and to lawyers when their behavior and their values are not those that are
generally accepted. The law and the lawyer provide official sanction and support for such deviant
behavior. Perhaps, in developing societies in which the legal profession participates fully in the
process of social change, this negative evaluation of law and of the profession can be overcome.
But in India, as in most developing societies, the legal profession has not so participated and the
private laws role has been relatively small. The politician, the economist, and the engineer remake
the society; the lawyer tends to be looked upon as a kind of manipulator or fixer who, in many
ways, fails to represent societies basic values and attitudes.

In addition, in India, as in so many other developing societies, both the economic and the social
service aspects of the legal profession are poor. The traditional, rural society typically gives
lawyers a relatively low money income. To the extent that Indian economic life today flows
through public-sector enterprises, there is also less reliance on private practitioners than is the case
with private -sector enterprises. In addition, for reasons already suggested, the lawyer has not
carved out for himself the creative role that is today so widely accepted in the United States. Hence,
outside of successful commercial practices in the large urban centers and the more significant
appellate practice, the career of law is neither particularly rewarding financially nor especially
stimulating intellectually. In the modern world, men of talent seek the opportunities and challenges
of service as well as financial reward sufficient to provide a reasonable degree of comfort and
security. Unless a profession can provide both, talent is likely to choose other outlets. Today the
typical Indian lawyer has a rather poorly paying practice in which he finds it necessary to handle
all kinds of matters with little opportunity for specialization, a situation rendered still more difficult
by the relative rarity of firm practice.

A final difficulty is simply the economic cost of the kind of legal education that would be required.
Most understandably, independent India sought to deal first with acute problems of poverty and
with pressing requirements of industrial development. Even in wealthier societies, problems of the
long range and of relative subtlety are often deferred to another day; the danger is that thereby the
opportunity to build solid foundations is postponed until lost, with the result that the problems that
were and remain so pressing can never be solved.

Law Schools and Legal Education in India as Well as C.G

“Legal Education is essentially a multi-disciplined, multi-purpose education which can develop

the human resources and idealism needed to strengthen the legal system. A lawyer, a product of
such education would be able to contribute to national development and social change in a much
more constructive manner.” (14)

Chief Justice A.M.Ahmadi pointed out in one of his lecture, “I think we have waited long enough
to repair the cracks of the Legal Education system of this country and it is high time that we rise
from our arm chairs and start the repair work in right earnest.” The reforms in Legal Education
and Legal Profession have been long overdue. There have been voices sometimes sharp and
sometimes subdued for such reforms. Unfortunately, no serious attempt could be made. In fact so
far, we have failed to look into the problems of Legal Education and Legal Profession, which have
been squarely facing us at our face. It is no use now putting the dust under the carpet as the
atmosphere above the carpet is fairly polluted; it is high time we seriously look into these problems.
The present law has to meet the requirements of the society, which is entering into 21st Century.
Law has to deal with problems of diverse magnitudes and a student of law and an Advocate has to
be trained in Professional skills to meet the challenges of globalization and universalize ion of law.
With the advent of multinationals in India as anywhere else, the task of lawyers would be highly
technical and an imperative need would arise to have competent lawyers who would be trained in
the right culture of Legal Education. This makes a sound case for introducing reforms in Legal
Education.
The creation of new breed of lawyer depends itself on the creation of a new teacher. All curricular
revision ought to be guided by one basic criterion viz. whether current doctrine and practice in
particular areas of law serve to promote basic democratic values. The promotion of these values
matters more than anything else; the heart of the matter is not re-christening of courses but the
changing of aim and emphasis. Among other things, the new law teachers must make plain to
student not only that there are different ways of setting disputes but many ways of getting results.

Law is conceived to be a process of dispute settlement, the law teacher must emphasis to students
that such settlements ought properly to be assessed in terms of whether or not they accord with the
democratic objectives of „authoritative‟ community policy. In attempting to guide students
towards the realization of basic democratic values, law teachers must themselves demonstrate
scholarly commitment to self-enlightment, for it is only through analysis clarification and exposure
of their own values and prejudices that they might diminish their own danger to students. (15)

Law schools – A new way out

A bold and creative decision on the part of the Bar Council of India, first to replace the three-year
(mostly part-time) LL.B. programme with an integrated five-year LL.B. course and secondly to
try out the scheme in a model law school (National Law School) sponsored by the BCI itself. The
first initiative happened in 1982 and the second in 1986. The outstanding success of the National
Law School experiment invited attention from policy planners (Committee on Subordinate
Legislation of the tenth Parliament recommended a Bangalore model law school in every State
which has been endorsed by the All India Law Ministers Conference at Bhubaneswar in 1992), the
organized bar and the Committee of Judges on legal education appointed by the Chief Justice of
India (1993). The call was responded by the setting up of law universities on the Bangalore model
in NALSAR at Hyderabad (1996), NLIU at Bhopal (1997), WBNUJS at Kolkata (1999) and NLU
at Jodhpur (2000) HNLU at Raipur (2003), GNLU at Gandhinagar (2004). An organized attempt
by the BCI with the assistance of the National Law School to revamp the curriculum (1996),
increasing the number of required subjects to be taught and introducing an imaginative component
of practical training (four courses for a total of 400 marks) to be completed at the law school in
the final year. Introduction (though aborted by a Supreme Court judgment) of a yearlong
apprenticeship under a senior advocate as a pre- requisite for enrolment as an advocate (1996).
After the introduction of National Law School, the admission in the law course is done strictly on
the basis of merit and only after 10+2 one can sit for this examination. Total number of seats in a
particular stream should not exceed 100 and the student ratio is almost 1:40.

The Bar Council of India has laid down standards in terms of system, classroom teaching, practical
training and skills, court visits, moot court, legal aid work, and other practical training programmes
fo r law students. This has given a special impact to Indian legal education.

All the traditional law colleges suffer from the non-attending of classes by the student. In this
matter law schools are able to overcome this problem by mostly residential colleges and colleges
are very much strict about attendance. To sit for the final examination everyone had to have a
certain percentage of attendance. By announcing a scheme of professional entry test to be
conducted by the BCI for foreign law degree holders to be able to seek enrolment under the Indian
Advocates Act.

The problems we are facing this moment

However, the pace of change towards improving the quality of legal education was watered down
by the very same Bar Council through a series of compromises adopted in the course of the last
two decades. These include:

a) Allowing the three-year LL.B. course to continue as before side by side with the five-year
integrated programme;
b) Not following the distinction between professional and liberal legal education in
categorizing the over 500 law teaching institutions for extending BCI jurisdiction;
c) Inability to mobilize funds for supporting improvements in legal education, particularly
among institutions located outside metropolitan cities; the institution situated outside the
metro city is suffering from various problems due to lack of fund. They could not afford a
good law library. They did not have the chance to get other facilities of the metros. They
could not invite good faculty for these lacks of fund. On the other hand these entire good
faculty prefers to stay in a Metro cities.
d) Inability to revive the pre-enrolment apprenticeship scheme or any other viable alternative
to ensure minimum professional competence on the part of fresh entrants to the profession;
 there is need for an Minimum criterion to enter in a bar otherwise it will turn in a mess.
Bar counsel should make some regulation for the coming law students. This can be an
entrance test, and whoso ever will be able to clear the test will be competent to enter in to
the bar. There is need to learn all the technical details of this profession. Otherwise one can
lose a case only on the technical ground. So, there is need to work as assistance to a lawyer
to realize and understand all the technical details and procedure. This selection of
procedure should be done by the marks obtained in the entrance examination of Bar. So,
there will be no dispute in the student, that he did not get an fair opportunity to get a good
lawyer to undergo the practical training. For this time period when a law student will
undergo the training as assistance he will be given a scholarship by the bar to sustain.
e) Inability to deter full-time teachers from practicing law and thereby depriving students of
the benefit of services of these teachers after completion of the course everyone had to go
for the practical use of the law. So, it is very important to know the practical situation from
a person who is expert in that particular field. In that case none but the practicing lawyer
is the best teacher. On the other hand, law papers like Criminal Procedure code, Indian
Penal Code, Indian Evidence Act cannot be understood except practical knowledge and
practices that are followed in the court.

(f) All the experts of a particular discipline should start detailed studies on that subject. In the
recent years we saw Indian Institute of technology, Khargapur come out with new course
on law related to Technology and Computers. No other institutions than IIT, IISc, ISI are
the best in their respective field of Science and technology and statistic. So, if they start to
use their intellectuals in this field then the development in law will be the unimaginable.

Likewise, if the Business schools comes out with different law courses on the corporate
management then it will be beneficial for the corporate law field. What are the expectations of the
country and the people from law and legal services in the coming years, given the process of
globalization and transformation in the role of the state? What is the best strategy to strengthen
professional legal education while promoting wider instruction in law as a liberal academic
discipline? If training in skills and ethics is to be accomplished within the law school curriculum
what is the appropriate model to achieve this end? How does one assess the social relevance and
justice content of law teaching and what can be done to maximize those goals? mechanism to
ensure account What ought to be the supervisory and control ability on the part of professional
schools of law in maintaining standards of teaching, research and extension activities? To be able
to address these questions one must have an awareness of the challenges involved and the changes
taking place in contemporary times. These relate to unmet legal needs of different sections of
society, delay and cost in accessing justice, impact of globalization on equality and human rights,
vast technological changes especially in information and communication, the relative
incapacitation of the state by market domination and the role of professions in justice, peace and
development. In all these changes law and lawyers play a decisive role of facilitation, moderation
and control. Law without justice is an empty shell. It is the nature of and access to institutions and
procedures, which make justice possible. In structuring the institutions and procedures, particularly
in periods of transition, lawyers will have to assist communities, interest groups and governments
keeping in mind the requirements of equity, justice and fairness.

What are the duties of an advocate towards his client?

The relationship between a lawyer and a client is highly fiduciary and it is the duty of an advocate
fearlessly to uphold the interests of the client by fair and honourable means without regard to any
unpleasant consequences to himself or any other person.

1) Duty to charge reasonable fees

An advocate must charge a fee consistent with his standing at the bar and the nature of the case.
The Constitution of India makes provision for the high courts to settle the table of fees payable to
advocates practising before them.

An advocate must not stipulate a fee contingent on the results of litigation or agree to share the
proceeds of litigation. This is because giving the lawyer an interest in the subject matter of the suit
is against professional ethics and violative of public policy.

If he withdraws from a case, the advocate must refund any part of the fee that was not earned.
However, once an advocate has accepted a case, he must under no circumstances withdraw from
the same without sufficient cause and without giving reasonable and sufficient notice to the client'.

2) Duty to make full and frank disclosure

An advocate must, at the commencement of his engagement and during its continuation, make all
full and frank disclosures to his client relating to his connection with the parties, and of any interest
he may have in and, or about the controversy, as is likely to affect his client's judgment in engaging
him on continuing the engagement

3) Duty to ensure no conflict of interest

An advocate has a duty not to accept any engagement in a trial in which he may have to give
testimony, although there is no rule of evidence disqualifying counsel from giving evidence in a
suit in which he is engaged. An advocate is not entitled to act in a professional capacity as well as
a constituted attorney of a party in the same matter or cause. If a person appoints a firm of lawyers
as his advocates, none of the partners of the lawyers' firm can act as recognized agents in pursuance
of a power of attorney concerning the same cause.

An advocate who has at any time advised a party in connection with the institution of a suit, appeal
or other matter or has drawn pleadings or acted for a party, must not act, appear or plead for the
opposite party, unless the express consent given of all concerned is obatined, after full dislcosure
of facts.

In case an advicate feels that there will be conflict of interest in filing a case on behalf of his client,
his duty is to advise his client to engage some other advocate.

4) Duty of care to client

An advocate should ensure that the interests of the client are not in any manner hurt by his acts or
omissions. He must also defend a person accused of a crime, regardless of his personal opinion as
to the guilt of the accused and must not abuse or take advantage of the confidence reposed in him
by the client.

When counsel does not inform the client of the subsequent proceeding of the case, he commits a
breach of this duty and is therefore liable for professional negligence.

5) Duty to maintain confidentiality

The relation between a law-yer and a client involves the highest degree of personal trust and
confidence. The Indian Evidence Act specifically provides that no lawyer is any time permitted,
to disclose any communication made between his cent and himself during the course of the
engagement unless it is with his client's express permission.

6) Duty to act only on Clients instructions

The engagement of a lawyer comes to an end when the client becomes unable to give instructions
because of his mental illness or other reasons. An advocate acting on the instructions of an agent
and not the instructions of the client, commits professional misconduct.

7) Duty to the law

Though a lawyer has the duty to represent his client to the best of his ability, he should not neglect
the fact that his loyalty is to the law. An advocate must also not be a party to fomenting of litigation.
He should not suppress facts or conduct the prosecution that leads to conviction of the innocent.
 Conclusion

The statement, “A lawyer is and must ever be the high priest at the shrine of justice”, a religious
metaphor, reflects the view of the lawyer’s special role on the administration of justice as
contemplated by the American Bar Association in the first national code of legal ethics in the USA.
The religious metaphor was developed in the context of viewing Courts as the ‘shrines of justice’,
and lawyers as the ministers of the “courts of justice robed in the priestly garments of truth, honor
and integrity”. Even in a secular context, the statement still captures the essence of the role of an
advocate in the mechanism of administration of justice in the society.

At the outset, it is necessary to appreciate the role an advocate plays in the society. The
development of lawyers as a class of professionals can be attributed to the need for trained persons
who can form the competent interface to facilitate the interaction between the lay persons and the
judiciary. This involves providing legal advice in matters of rights, liberties or property of the
client within the framework of legislative and legal rights and representing the client in the event
of a dispute before an adjudicatory body. In fact, if law is viewed as a ‘public good’ which is
frequently technical and not self-executing, meaningful access to law requires the assistance of a
lawyer. Particularly, in most jurisdictions, the members of the legal profession are conferred the
status of privileged members of the community and occupies an exclusive domain with the
privilege of pleading and acting on behalf of suitors being restricted only to enrolled advocates
and attorneys. This monopolistic character of the legal profession entails certain high traditions
which its members are expected to upkeep and uphold. Therefore, the lawyer plays an
indispensable role in the mechanism of administration of justice.

However, the lawyer has a particularly onerous and multi-dimensional role to fulfill. As expressed
by Mathew, J., “A Counsel has a tripartite relationship: one with the public, another with the court,
and the third with his client. That is a unique feature. Other professions or callings may include
one or two of these relationships but no other has the triple duty.” The satisfaction of the
obligations and expectations arising out of these three relationships are frequently difficult to
reconcile. The role of the advocate in these three capacities requires a closer scrutiny.
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

 M. P. Jain, Outlines of Indian Legal & Constitutional History, LexisNexis Butterworths

Wadhwa Nagpur, Gurgaon, (2012)
 www.barcouncilindia.org
 Robert J. Bonner, Lawyers and Litigants in Ancient Athens: The Genesis of the Legal
Profession, 1927.
 James A. Brundage, “The Rise of the Professional Jurist in the Thirteenth Century,” 20
Syracuse J. Int’l L. & Com., 1994.
 Law Comm, XIV Report, 556 (1958)
 Veeraraghavan, Legal Profession and the Advocates Act,1961, (1972) 14 JILI.