Essay Example: Ethical Problems in the Law Practice

Ethics can be defined as the guiding principles that dictate a person's moral behavior. The judges and the lawyers are required to be very rational in the way they make decisions. The decisions they make may have several impacts on different people therefore, anything they say should be based and guided by the professional code of ethics. This paper will examine the ethical problems that faces the law practitioners both as an organization or an individual person. In addition, the paper will also examine the impacts of ethical problems both on the law practitioners and also the clients.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

The judges and the lawyers are the core elements of judicial system. Irresponsibility has been one of the greatest ethical main concern in most cases. The judicial offices contains crucial documents that supposed to be kept in proper and secured places. However, when these documents are required and cannot be found ready at the time of need, it means that the person in charge is not responsible enough (Morgan, T. D., & Rotunda, R. D, 2008). The irresponsibility of the law practitioners leads to controversy in the decision making process. This is because, when these documents cannot be found when required it will impact the judicial processes and maybe affect the decision to be made. Therefore, every office should be responsible and be ready to provide the information required at the time it may be needed.

The judiciary is one of the major organs that determines the smooth running of the society. The judiciary should ensure that the appellants are listened to. Social class difference has been a major concern issue that affects every institutions. The judiciary institutions are not left behind in this case. A person may come to appeal a case and instead of getting the assistance they need, they are discriminated against the social levels. In most cases, those who are socially disadvantaged do not win the cases. This has made them to fear even appealing any case against those in higher social classes.

The primary function of the judiciary institutions is to promote equity amongst the public. This has not been the case over the past years. The judiciary is faced with different ethical problems that reduces the chances of its performance (Morgan, T. D., & Rotunda, R. D, 2008). The law practitioners have been accused of being involved in different corruption issues. Either taking bribes that changes the judgment process. The judiciary should promote equity in the judgment. This also has influenced the performance of most of the judiciary systems.

Most of the law practitioners especially those in the isolated areas may lack opportunities to share experience with their fellows from different parts with different experiences. In most cases, ethical issues have been considered personal and only the concerned person is required to determine his/her behavior. This can be wrong because, human beings are faced with almost common problems that are usually universal. Therefore, sharing ideas may help to acquire knowledge and strategies to approach a problem.

According to Morgan, T. D., & Rotunda, R. D. (2008), lack of understanding is another problem that affects the law practitioners. Misunderstanding the role of each group in a judicial institution may lead to its poor performance. The judges should identify the difference between professional roles and personal roles. In most cases, the judicial decision has been interfered with the personal life of the person involved in making the decision. The judge should be guided by a professional code of ethics that should dictate what should be done, how and when it should be done. Most of the law practitioners have not been able to give the judiciary the respect it nay deserve. Lack of respect for the judiciary has also contributed to the ethical challenges that the law institutions experience. The misunderstanding between personal and public lifestyle of the law practitioners have led to this lack of respect of judicial institutions. Therefore, the law practitioners should differentiate the two and apply the appropriate code of ethics required.

Law practicing is highly guided by the code of conduct and this should be upheld by every member of the judiciary. Privacy is one of the crucial concerns in law practicing and everyone whether guilty of the charges or not deserves privacy. The judiciary deals with different cases of different character of people. This requires the involved to maintain high level of secrecy to the clients. The documents should be kept out of reach of the unintended persons. The information of the cases should be accessed only by the people allowed to have their access.

Sexual harassments is out of the professional code of ethics. Over the past years, there have been increased cases of sexual harassment that has made the society unbearable (Lerman, L. G., & Schrag,P, 2013). Especially if the involved party is a law practitioner. The judiciary is expected to protect the public. The public entrust their lives to the judiciary that they are safe. This trust is broken when the people expected to protect the public turns to be assaulting them instead of offering them protection. This is against any professional code of ethics and is highly punishable. The judiciary should emphasize on the public perception on the judiciary. The judiciary serves the public and if the public lose trust on the judiciary then it means the judiciary has no role to play in the society and hence should not be there.

Influence from the environment is another ethical problem that the law practitioners experience. This can be either from other institutions or even from the prominent people in the state. When the judiciary acts according to someones interest it will have gone against the professional code of ethics of upholding the integrity of the judiciary (Lerman, L. G., & Schrag, P, 2013). Therefore, law practitioners should be always guided by the professional code of ethics that dictates their behavior and the way they make decisions.

In conclusion, the judiciary is the central point of the countrys activities. Law practitioner should be guided by the code of ethics always. They are the role model of how the society should look like and therefore it all starts from them. The committee of codes of conduct should be at the forefront in ensuring that the members uphold the code of ethics as may be required.

Works cited

Crystal, N. M. (2008). Professional Responsibility: Problems of Practice and the Profession.

Lerman, L. G., & Schrag, P. (2013). Ethical Problems in The Practice of Law: Concise Edition for the Two Credit Courses. Wolters Kluwer Law & Business.

Morgan, T. D., & Rotunda, R. D. (2008). Professional Responsibility: Problems and Materials. Foundation Press.