Code of professional responsibility - sustany/dvg GitHub Wiki

The Code of Professional Responsibility�governs�legal ethical conduct�and was created by the�American Bar Association�(ABA) in 1969.�The Code comprised three portions: (1) Canons; (2) Ethical Considerations; and (3) Disciplinary Rules.� The first two portions were considered �aspirational� while the third was mandatory.�

The Code provided guidance regarding issues of�conflicts of interest, client confidentiality, competent representation, conduct to the�courts, prevention of the unauthorized practice of law, and more.�It was based on the ABA�s 1908�Canons of Professional Ethics, which were in turn borrowed from the 1887 Canons of the Alabama State Bar.

The Code of Professional Responsibility was later replaced by the ABA�Model Rules of Professional Conduct�and adopted by the ABA House Delegates in 1983.� The shift from the Code to the Model Rules was in part a response to criticism that it was difficult to understand and structurally flawed and fallout from the Watergate scandal.�The Model Rules of Professional Conduct are not inherently binding but come into effect only when states choose to adopt certain rules.�For example, New York state was one of the last states to continue to use the 1969 Code, only adopting a�modified version of the Model Rules�in 2009.