VBA Professionalism principles debuted « Virginia Lawyers Weekly

VBA Professionalism principles debuted

By Alan Cooper
Published: April 6, 2009

The birthday of a famous Virginia lawyer gives the Virginia bar a new occasion to embrace professionalism.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has designated Monday, April 13, “Lawyer Professionalism Day,” when the Virginia Bar Association’s Commission of Professionalism will formally roll out a set of aspiration-al principles by which lawyers should conduct themselves.

Kaine notes the day “has special historical significance because it is the 266th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Jefferson, one of Virginia’s greatest governors and lawyers.”

Thomas E. Spahn, a legal ethics authority in the McLean office of McGuireWoods LLP, is chairman of the commission and the primary draftsman of the principles.

He said they are designed to address the tension between the ethical duty of lawyers to zealously represent the interests of their clients and the goal of treating others as they would like to be treated themselves.

The Supreme Court of Virginia and the chief judges of the federal courts in the Eastern and Western districts of Virginia have endorsed the principles.

The commission will provide an e-mail and electronic copy of the principles that it hopes bar organizations, law firms and state law schools will send to members and students next Monday.

The project was championed by former Virginia Bar Association President William R. Van Buren III of Norfolk, who appointed a commission composed of representatives of statewide bar groups and prominent judges and lawyers to draft them.

The principles are designed to serve as a teaching tool for law students and new attorneys, a guide and reference for practicing lawyers and as a public statement of the importance Virginia lawyers attach to professional integrity and civility.

Spahn said about 15 states have adopted similar aspirational statements, but most of those tend to be closer to a Code of Professional Responsibility than the two-page document endorsed by the Supreme Court.

The Virginia principles include a preamble, which says, “Without losing sight of what lawyers do for their clients and for the public, lawyers should also focus on how they perform their duties.”

Written in the first person, the principles include categories covering conduct toward clients, opposing counsel, courts and other institutions and “everyone with whom I deal.”

Most of the statements are general, such as an admonition to “avoid all bigotry, discrimination, or prejudice,” while others are specific, such as a pledge to “notify opposing counsel of any schedule changes as soon as possible.”

The commission’s report describing the principles emphasizes that they “serve merely as an expression of ideals to which each lawyer should aspire, and shall not be referenced or utilized in any manner in connection with the disciplinary rules and proceedings applicable to Virginia lawyers.”

Spahn has developed a series of hypotheticals to illustrate the principles that he hopes can be used to promote civility in continuing legal education programs. Richmond lawyer and cartoonist Michael Goodman also has prepared illustrations of the type of behavior Spahn hopes the principles will discourage.

Virginia Lawyers Weekly

VBA Professionalism principles debuted

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