We have all undoubtedly heard of the concept of “legal ethics.” Unfortunately, it is usually in a negative light surrounding a lawyer who has broken the tenets of the legal ethics and is facing some sort of censure or disciplinary hearing. It isn’t too often that attorneys are discussed in a positive manner with regard to legal ethics. We are here to dispel any myths that attorneys are unethical shysters only out to make a dollar. Our personal injury attorneys are passionate about their trade and seek to help those in need who are suffering from personal injury. The road from law school to admission to the California state bar is riddled with ethical requirements along the way. Our lawyers have met and exceeded all minimal ethical requirements in the state, and there are quite a few!
To begin, most all law students are required to take a course in law school dealing with legal ethics. Many schools entitle the course “professional responsibility” because the professors seek to instill more than just minimal ethics requirements in the students. Professional responsibility encapsulates the proper way for a lawyer to conduct himself during his practice as an attorney as well as within his personal life. Some actions may not be unethical, but they still don’t meet the standard of professionally responsible. Our San Diego injury attorneys seek to exceed both standards.
The course in law school explores the various tight spots that lawyers can get themselves into with regard to ethical considerations. The professor will usually present the class with a hypothetical or real-life scenario that raises a variety of ethical dilemmas and the students exercise their ethical knowledge and discuss the various options. The professor will present cases from real life situations whereby a lawyer either took the ethical road or failed miserably. Law students are exposed from very early on to the pitfalls of circumventing the legal ethics rules and are required to pass the professional responsibility course to graduate.
From there, students are required to study for and pass the Multi-State Professional Responsibility examination, administered a few times per year. The examination covers the gauntlet of ethical concerns and California requires students to achieve a score of 86 in order to pass. This test is in addition to the grueling California state bar and many students take and pass the examination during the rigors of a full course load during law school.
After passing the state bar examination and the MPRE examination, the state bar will require each injury lawyer to maintain the standards set forth by the highest court in California. Many firms require lawyers to attend yearly classes to refresh their memories as to the ethical requirements. Any deviation from the standards of ethics set forth in the state law will be grounds for discipline upon the attorney. The state board does not look highly on lawyers who try to lie and fudge the truth when it comes to ethics.
Select one of our attorneys today! We adhere to the highest of ethical and professional standards as set forth by our unrivaled reputation within the Orange County personal injury attorney community.
