Lawyers have a variety of duties to their clients, colleagues, judges, and other parties involved in legal matters. They must provide advice and representation in court, before government agencies, and in private legal matters. They must communicate with their clients, colleagues, judges, and others involved in the case. Lawyers must also conduct research and analysis of legal issues, interpret laws, judgments, and regulations for individuals and companies.
Your lawyer is responsible for making decisions regarding legal procedures and legal strategies. The lawyer's tasks relate mainly to technical, legal, and tactical issues since the client is not expected to know the ins and outs of court proceedings. Partners and lawyers with comparable authority have responsibility, at least indirectly, for all the work done by the firm. A partner or manager in charge of a particular matter normally also has the responsibility of overseeing the work of other lawyers in the firm involved in the matter. For this paragraph to apply, the lawyer admitted to practice in this jurisdiction must be actively involved and share the responsibility for representing the client.
If a lawyer has conducted a judicial or administrative procedure that resulted in an adverse outcome for the client and the lawyer, and the client does not agree that the lawyer should deal with the matter on appeal, the lawyer should consult with the client about the possibility of appealing before waiving responsibility for the matter. This restriction is not intended to prohibit representation in tort cases where the investigation and prosecution of violations have ended, nor to prohibit representation in family law matters that are not subject to the authority or responsibilities of the prosecution. An individual lawyer can fulfill this responsibility by accepting a fair share of unpopular matters or indigent or unpopular clients. Lawyers can also fulfill this responsibility by providing free or discounted professional services to people with limited resources or to public service or charitable groups or organizations. They can participate in activities to improve the law, legal system, or legal profession.
Additionally, they can provide financial support to organizations that provide legal services to people with limited resources. Determining whether or not a conflict exists is a primary responsibility of lawyers. An assistant other than a lawyer can perform any task delegated and supervised by a lawyer provided that the lawyer is accountable to the client, maintains a direct relationship with them, and assumes full professional responsibility for their work. It is also a lawyer's responsibility not to file a lawsuit that is frivolous or baseless. Joint responsibility for representation involves both financial and ethical responsibility as if lawyers were partners in an association. This includes members of a company, shareholders of a law firm organized as a professional corporation, members of other associations authorized to practice law; lawyers with comparable management authority in a legal services organization or in a legal department of a company or government agency; and lawyers who have intermediate managerial responsibilities in a firm. A key factor in defining this relationship is whether parties share responsibility for attorney fees but common representation can be deducted from other circumstances.
Generally speaking, lawyers have limited responsibility to present a version of issues that courts must consider when reaching decisions; opposing parties are expected to present conflicting positions. The authority and responsibility stipulated by this Rule are concurrent with those stipulated by other Rules. Under Rule 1.7 (a), a conflict of interest exists if there is significant risk that a lawyer's representation of their client will be materially limited by their own interest in fee agreements or liabilities to third-party payers (for example when third-party payers are co-clients).