In this article, Mansi Bathija discusses the terms of engagement that a lawyer should sign with his clients before taking on any high-value work.
In India, the ultimate authority which conducts the professional ethics and duties of advocates registered is the bar council of India. It lays down certain rules and regulations for the conduct of advocates in India such as the duties of an advocate towards his client, opposition, colleagues, court etc.
The legal community in India has played a vital role in shaping the future of the country. There are no standards particularly for law firms or to acknowledge them under the rules created by the Bar Council of India, the all-India administrative body of the profession in charge of setting benchmarks of professional direct and practicing a supervisory part over the Bar Councils in the individual states of India.
Where a law firm is included, it is the individual advocates in a law firm rather than the law firm itself that may give legitimate administrations in India. Advocates determine their power to speak to their clients in court-related matters under the power of lawyer conceded in their name.
Lawyer-client relationship
A “client” is a person who seeks advice from a lawyer and for whose benefit the lawyer renders or consents to render legal administrations.
How is a lawyer-client relationship established?
if a person asks a legal question, and a lawyer answers or says he or she will look into it, a lawyer-client relationship may result. There’s no need to sign an agreement, shake hands, discuss rates or send an engagement letter.
In India, Sections 126 to 129 of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 manage advantaged that is appended to proficient communication between a legal counsellor and the client. Section 126 and 128 say conditions under which the legal counsellor can give evidence of such expert communication. Section 127 gives that mediators, assistants or workers of the legal consultant are limited likewise. Section 129 says when a legal counsellor can be constrained to unveil the private communication which has occurred amongst him and his client.
Section 126 states that no counsellor, lawyer, pleader or Vakil might whenever be allowed to
Disclosure
- Any communication made to him by or in the interest of his client or
- Any exhortation is given by him to his client in the course and with the end goal of his work;
To express the substance or states of any archive with which he has turned out to be familiar in the course and with the end goal of his work.[1]
Ethics rules and conduct
Advocates have the double duty of maintaining the interests of the client boldly while behaving as officers of the court. As needs are, they are relied upon to hold fast to the most noteworthy norms of honesty and respect. An advocate’s lead ought to mirror their special position in the public arena which gets from the honourability of this calling. More or less, on the off chance that you are an advocate your support of the basic man ought to be caring, moral and legitimate.
The rules mentioned in Chapter II, Part IV of the Bar Council of India Rules on standards of professional conduct and etiquette shall be adopted as a guide for all advocates in conducting matters related to law.[2]
Important communications to be made:
- Fee agreements: The fees should be agreed prior to taking up a case. This clause could be written or oral. The mode of payment might also be decided before moving forward.
- Confidentiality agreement: this is a very vital aspect of any lawyer-client relationship. Any information shared by the client needs to be between his attorney and himself. If violated, the lawyer might have to face consequences.
- Correct advice: The lawyer must inform his client about his legal rights and responsibilities.
- The lawyer should try to understand the client’s part of the story and not get into the technicalities on the first meeting itself.
- Before taking up any high profile case, the lawyer must know the insights of the client or the client’s business.
Doctrine of client confidentiality
A confidentiality clause gives a protected situation to your client and elevates trust. Your client needs to realize that he or she (or “it” in the event that you are working with an association) can completely put stock in you with secret, individual, budgetary or restrictive data. A confidentiality agreement shows to the client that you are a genuine expert, willing to hush up about certain data and not reveal such data to others aside from under certain circumstances the teaching of client confidentiality benefit has turned into a necessary piece of UK common law and is acknowledged around the world. Civil law nations like France and Japan likewise perceive benefit concerning correspondence with lawyers. In India, the advantage of benefit is arranged inside the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 which confines its application to correspondence with lawyers or lawyers.
Privilege and its exceptions:
A “privileged professional communication” is a security granted to a communication between the legal guide and the client. Professional communications and private communications with the legal guides have been agreed security under The Indian Evidence Act, 1872 (“the Act”). On the off chance that the benefit did not exist by any means, everybody would be tossed upon his own legal assets. Denied of all professional help, a man would not dare to counsel any talented individual, or would just set out to tell his guidance a large portion of his case. To guarantee benefit under section 126 of the Act, a communication by a gathering to his pleader must be of a secret sort.
This Section does not shield from disclosure:
- any communication made in promotion of any illegal reason;
- any reality seen throughout work demonstrating that any wrongdoing or extortion has been submitted since the initiation of the business.
The assurance managed under this Section can’t be profited of against a request to create archives under Section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. The record must be created, and afterwards, under Section 162 of this Act, it will be for the Court, after investigation of the reports, in the event that it esteems fit, to consider and choose any complaint in regards to their generation or suitability.
Vakalatnama
Vakalatnama is a kind of power of attorney which is signed by a client in order to allow the lawyer to represent him legally before the court of law. A vakalatnama is deemed to include all the important terms regarding responsibility, costs, fees etc.
“A verbal contract isn’t worth the paper it is written on”
Very well said by Samuel Goldwyn & it is universally observed that written contracts serve a better purpose than the oral agreements. In India, it is not likely to enter into a written contract regarding all the clauses with your lawyer but as of now emerging people in this profession are taking up this mode of engaging with their clients to avoid chaos later. The main reason why a lawyer should enter into a written agreement with his client is to make sure that there is like-mindedness on both the sides. Most of the times, issues arise between client and lawyer regarding the payment of the fees of lawyer. Hence, to avoid such problems, it is better to have the clauses in a written format.
Reference
[1] http://www.legalserviceindia.com/articles/pc.htm
[2] http://www.barcouncilofindia.org/about/professional-standards/
