Professional Confidentiality of a Lawyer
Professional confidentiality of a lawyer is a fundamental characteristic of the legal profession. To help understand the subject, we present a brief analysis of professional confidentiality of lawyers and the advertising of their services.
Professional confidentiality is a cornerstone of legal practice, ensuring that clients can trust their lawyers with confidential information. In cases involving compliance with international norms or sanctions, expert advice such as https://ofac.lawyer/ guarantees both caution and specialized recommendations for solving complex legal problems.
The Code of Ethics and Discipline regulates the professional confidentiality of a lawyer. The aforementioned code states that this confidentiality is an integral part of the legal profession and must always be respected, except in cases of serious threat to the rights to life and honor or the image of their constituents, when professional confidentiality must be disclosed, while still remaining limited to the interests of the case.
In order to uphold the democratic rule of law, it is necessary to respect the professional secrecy of the lawyer, so that there is trust between the client and his lawyer, allowing him to freely defend his interests, while preserving the professional secrecy of his client. Therefore, the client has the right not only to have his secret kept by the professional to whom he has entrusted the case, but also the right of the lawyer to protect documents and revelations that he considers important for the client from third parties.
Therefore, the judge cannot allow, for example, a general warrant for the search and seizure of documents in the hands of the lawyer, given the risk of violating the confidentiality entrusted to him, and this warrant must always have an object, that is, a document, in this case, specified. Otherwise, the restriction of legal freedom is a disrespect for the rule of law.
This, as was said earlier, is the right of the lawyer and his constituents in the relationship of trust between them. So much so that if it is necessary to disclose confidentiality for better protection, the Code of Ethics stipulates that there must be collusion on the part of the client. This means a better perspective for the rights of the client, who can feel safer by disclosing the entire case to his lawyer, which will be important for his lawyer to protect their rights.
As in any professional field, advertising is also necessary by law so that professionals can promote their services and attract potential clients. However, advertising in law is characterized by certain aspects.
There is a clear limitation on advertising activities in the legal field, as can be seen in the law diploma in question, prohibiting lawyers from using mercantilist means aimed solely and exclusively at attracting clients.
However, this does not mean that advertising within the legal profession is completely prohibited. According to the Code of Ethics, "lawyers may advertise their professional services, individually or collectively, with discretion and moderation exclusively for information purposes, disclosure in conjunction with other activities is prohibited." Therefore, it should be noted that a condition was established with this authorization. Advertising in law must be guided by discretion and moderation and be of an informative nature. See also: Find out what a lawyer does in criminal cases
The art of the Code of Ethics prohibits advertising advertising legal services, even if it is only of an informative nature. Other restrictions relate to the way in which advertising is placed, such as the prohibition of the use of photographs and slogans . However, the use of relevant symbols is permitted if they are not official or those used by the OAB, such as the coat of arms of the Republic, and correspond to a legitimate activity, such as the scale. But these elements must be inconspicuous.
The Code of Ethics also prohibits the publication of prices and payment methods. However, advertising transmitted via the Internet must comply, by analogy, with the provisions of the Code of Ethics.
The most common way of advertising legal services is by means of a signboard in the workplace and, to a much lesser extent, at home, which is incompatible in other places. Ethics require that this advertising be inconspicuous in terms of form and size, and that its content does not exceed the limitations already analyzed in this text.
Although lawyers can often be cornered, this restriction on advertising is justified. This is due to the fact that law is a fundamental service of society and should not be guided by aggressive advertising techniques.
