Professional Ethics in the Legal Profession:- A Dying Concept?

Also read article on Should Indian Lawyers be Allowed to be Paid on Contingency Basis

“Ethics is not definable, is not implementable, because it is not conscious; it involves not only our thinking, but also our feeling.”

-Valdemar W. Setzer

Introduction

Open the newspaper on any regular day and you will see news such as doctor being caught in the business of revealing the sex of a foetus or a judge accused of taking a bribe or similar stories. Only a person of the respective profession can understand the shame the members of their profession feel when they read such news.

Professional ethics is basically the standard or code of behavior that a professional must follow. There is no clear definition of the word ‘professional’, but for the purposes of professional ethics it may be safe to assume that a "professional" means any person in an occupation which requires public licensing or

Privacy in Cell Phone Communication: Issue still open

The is article is written by Arkady Bukh, a criminal defense lawyer in New York.

In U.S.A. this issue is still open at least on the Federal level.  However, many of the states have needed to make decisions on what Fourth amendment protections apply to cell phone text messages.  The questions being asked include whether the police can just pick up a cell phone and look at it contents without a warrant; can they even pick up the cell phone without a warrant, are the text messages to and from that particular phone protected private material of the cell phone owner, or even

Reciprocal / Mutual Wills in the Nature of Wagering Agreements and Against Public Policy - Sample Mutual / Reciprocal Will Format

(Also read 'Good WILL Hunting- The Importance of Making a Will - Sample Will Format' Sample Format of Mutual/Recirocal Will can be found below.)

One of the Fundamental Distinctions between a Will and a Contract is Privity. The beneficiary to a Will does not and cannot sign the Will of the Testator. There is no proposal or acceptance. However, there is one type of Will, in which the Testators must sign and the they  also stand a chance to be the beneficiaries. This is a mutual/reciprocal Will. This is where two or more persons make a mutual will where reciprocal benefits are conferred upon each other i.e. similar rights are given to each other in each other’s property. For example, A bequeaths all this property to B, and B makes a Will giving all his property to A.

It is well settled that a mutual/reciprocal will cannot

Should Indian Lawyers be Allowed to Work on Contingency Basis – Sample Draft Contingency Fee Agreement Format

The Bar Council of India prohibits advocates from charging fees to their clients contingent on the results of litigation or pay a percentage or share of the claims awarded by the Court. Bar Council of India Rules: Part VI, Chapter II, Section II, Rule 20 which reads as under:

“20. An advocate shall not stipulate for a fee contingent on the results of litigation or agree to share the proceeds thereof.” (Rules can be read here.)

Many have the misconception that the reason why lawyers do not work on a contingency basis is