CLIP 4 & 5

Advertising by legal professionals is not allowed within India following the Victorian tradition
that was followed in olden England. Rule 36 of the Bar Council Rules provide –

“He shall not promote himself by circulars, advertisements, touts, personal communications, and
interviews other than through personal relations, furnishing or inspiring newspaper comments
or producing his photographs to be published in connection with cases in which he has been
engaged or concerned.”1

In the clips the legal professionals are advertising in the television as well as handing out visiting
cards to random personnel which essentially go against the standards set in the country by the
Bar Council. With respect to the standards being followed in India, it is pertinent to observe that
such traditions have been discarded in nations like UK or US yet in India the ethical guidelines
are stringent and being strictly followed. The approach in India has been severally criticized by
the legal professionals in the matter of V.B. Joshi v. UOI2, wherein it was argued that certain
level of standardized and regulated advertising should be allowed which might assist the people
in attaining legal assistance more easily.

CLIP 2

With regards to the second clip, it is observed that the aggrieved party approaches the lawyer in
respect to the wrongful termination by his firm due to some misplaced documents. Herein, the
lawyers are seen to be advising with regards to the consequences and his opinions regarding the
matter which is ethically upright. However, certain prima facie violations are evident herein –

An advocate should not be a party to stir up or instigate litigation.3

In the present scenario, the lawyer with an ulterior motive tries to instigate litigation against the
firm, and did not provide substantial weightage for other recourses available to the client.
Another point that should be noticed herein is that after carefully analyzing the merits of the

1
The Bar Council of India, Rules on professional standards, accessed on 9th Sept. 2018, available on :
<http://www.barcouncilofindia.org>
2
WP No.1927 OF 2011
3
Available at http://www.barcouncilofindia.org/about/professional-standards/rules-on-professional-standards/,
accessed on 10th Sept., 2018.
case, the lawyer did not back his services with proper form of remuneration and states that “they
do not take cash unless we make cash justice for you” which violates another rule of the Bar
Council as follows –

An advocate should not charge for his services depending on the success of the matter
undertaken. He also shall not charge for his services as a percentage of the amount or property
received after the success of the matter.4

The lawyer should provide his services to the best of the client’s interests and his opinion with
regards to a particular matter should be within his intellect to the interests of the client. In the
clip it is seen that in respect to the second client the lawyer truthfully provides his opinion and
disregards the case by stating that the merits of the case would not allow him to be win
corresponding with one of the lamps of the advocacy –

“A client is entitles to the independent judgment of the advocate whether his judgment is right or
wrong; it is the duty of the advocate to place it at the disposal of the client.”

CLIP 3

Herein, the client is being trained for cross and chief examination in the court by the opposing
counsel. To the best of the capabilities, the lawyer provides the client with substantial
information with regards to the answering of questions in the court. The approach of the lawyer
might be diverse as to playing something popularly referred to as “Good Cop and Bad Cop
Interrogation”, wherein the lawyer can aggressively attack the client or witness to answer the
questions in a fit of nervousness or fear or otherwise the lawyer can create a friendly
environment to make the witness gullible and to provide the answers in a more comfortable
manner.

Thus the lawyer shows two lamps of advocacy i.e. lamp of eloquence and the lamp of wit.

CLIP 6

The particular clip shows the advocate considering cross examination and asking questions
pertaining to the interests in joining the law firm and the circumstances behind joining it. It was

4
Supra Note 3.
stated that Andrew herein, was awestruck by Charles due to the knowledge and command over
the legal concepts that coincide with the Lamp of Industry. Further the clip shows the spirit of
the lawyer to work against the tides and the courage for achieving legal justice which can be
Lamp of Courage. The lawyer frames the questions in a skilled manner with clearly phrased
questions trying to bring out the most substantial information that would be striving to achieve
justice i.e. Lamp of Wit.

The attributes of the lawyer has been clearly being portrayed in the clip which can be justified by
the statement “I love the law, I know the law”. These attributes and the skills are pertinent and
important for any lawyer.

CLIP 8

Every lawyer should follow a certain level of ethical conduct towards his witness. As shown in
the clip, the council at a particular time attacked his witness with some personal question about
his sexual preferences which was humiliating in nature. It is stated in certain rules that:

 “An advocate must not “needlessly” abuse, hector, or harass a witness.

 A lawyer should treat witnesses, as well as other counsel and the court, with fairness,
courtesy and respect”.5

In a society where being a Gay in not an accepted norm, asking a witness in front of the court
“Are you a gay” is clearly insulting and violation of the ethical conduct of a lawyer.

5
Linda Plumpton and Peter Henein, THE ADVOCATES’ SOCIETY SYMPOSIUM ON PROFESSIONALISM
: A LAWYER’S DUTIES TO CLIENTS AND WITNESSES, accessed on 9th Sept. 2018, available on :
<www.advocates.ca>