CHAPTER TWO
The Legal
Profession
2.1. Meaning and Nature
of Legal Profession
Raj kishare Prasad, an Indian justice, described the
profession of law as follows.
“The profession of law is a great culling, and to
discharge the responsibility the member of this
profession must make himself equal to the task law is a
great profession of talent and talent is bound to make
headway through many vestitudes of circumstances
and through many reversals of fortune. The profession
calls for great knowledge high mental capacity and
wide culture”
Mr. Deflen; described the legal profession by referring the
whole occupational roles purposely oriented towards the
administration and maintenance of the legal system. Legal
profession encompasses lawyers, judges, counselors, as well as
experts of legal education and scholarship.
Profession of law is essential in a complex society.
It is essential to move the machine of civilization, according to
justice McCarty, the alternative to the reign of law is the
chaos of the jungle.
Legal profession unlike other profession, which are generally
taken up with the sole objective of earning money is a
profession of high dignity.
Legal profession is a profession, not a business.
The distinction between legal profession and business is deep
and fundamental
Legalprofession is an occupation that requires
advanced training in law.
Legal profession is related to administration of justice.
The motive in legal profession is safeguarding liberty
and attaining justice.
Legal professionals work for the welfare of the
society; they protect order, justice and liberty.
There are no competitions in the legal profession
because the goal of all legal professionals is one and
the same: liberty and justice
2.2 Admission to the Legal Profession
The admission to the legal profession differs in various
jurisdictions.
The following are experiences in some countries
A) Canada
In Canada a person should pass through three distinct stage of
legal education to be admitted to the bar in Canada. The stages
are pre-law university instruction, the academic stage and
vocational stage.
Finally’; a person must successfully pass a qualification
examination, commonly known as the Bar Admission
Examination
B) South Africa
In South Africa, a person should pass through four
stages of education and qualification and pass bar
examination to become an attorney.
The first stage is university education for four years
leading to an L.L.B. degree.
The second stage is attendance at a practical legal training
school.
The third stage is service of articles of clerkship under a
practicing attorney; and
The final stage is employment in a public interest law firm
C)
USA
In the United States, admission to the bar and lawyer
discipline has traditionally been the matters of state
concern.
Lawyers are not admitted to practice in the United
States, they are admitted to practice in a particular
state or states.
Separate rules govern admission to the various
federal courts.
In most states, admission to practice law is gained by
graduating from law school, passing the state‘s bar
examination, and demonstrating that you possess
good moral character
D) Ethiopia
Admission to the legal profession in Ethiopia is
similar with that of U.S.
It is the jurisdiction of the state to determine the
requirements to practice before state courts.
To practice before federal courts, any Ethiopian
should hold one of the three types of licenses issued
by the Ministry of Justice (Article 3 and 7 of Federal
Courts Advocates Licensing and Registration
Proclamation No. 199/2000).
They are: a) federal first instance court advocacy
license; b) federal courts advocacy license; and c)
federal court special advocacy license.
The followings are some common requirements to
obtain these licenses.
Graduation from legally recognized institution
and experience
Suitable code of conduct for assisting in the
proper administration of justice;
Pass mark in the advocacy entrance examination
No conviction and sentence in an offense showing
an improper conduct;
Documents evidencing entrance into a
professional Indemnity Insurance Policy.
2.3 Constitutional Right to
Exercise Legal Profession
Article 41(2) of the Constitution of FDRE provides that:
Every Ethiopian has the right to choose his or her
means of livelihood, occupation and profession.
Profession within the meaning of this article means any
activities that form the basis of one‘s life.
It includes not only those profession identified by custom
or by law, but also freely chosen activities that do not
correspond to the legal or traditional conception of
profession.
It is the constitutional right of Ethiopian citizens to
choose legal profession as their means of livelihood.
Article 41(2) of the constitution does not attach any
restriction or provide any exception to this right.
Is the right to choose legal profession absolute right as the
Constitution does not provide any restriction or exception?
Can any organ of government limit this right?
As there is no restriction, the minimum requirement
to enjoy the right to choose legal profession is being
an Ethiopian.
Any Ethiopian can choose legal profession.
On the other hand, Proclamation No. 199/2000
makes clear that it is not all Ethiopian but only
certain Ethiopians who studied law and can pass
entrance examination who are legible to practice
law.
2.4 Dissatisfaction with Legal Profession
Dissatisfaction with the administration of justice in general and
the legal profession in particular, is not new. It is as old as the
law itself .
Thus, an occasional complaint is not a problem. The problem lies with persistent
dissatisfaction with the legal profession.
One of the causes of popular dissatisfaction with the legal profession is the abuse o f
adversary system.
This abuse lead to bullying of witnesses and sensational cross examinations, thus
creating a general dislike and impairment of the administration of justice.
On top of that incivility among advocates exacerbated the dislike of the public to the
legal profession.
Advocates usually do not address each other courteously. They address one another
in words short of insult.
They forget or neglect their ethical duty to respect their colleagues.
Law schools contributed to the problem of abusing
adversary system.
They conditioned their students to look for a debatable issue. They
do not train or teach their students to search for a just and
equitable solution to legal problems or a common ground between
contending parties.
Accordingly, the concentration on the adversary system
accentuates or exaggerates differences that might have been
accommodated or resolved by negotiation or conciliation. The
result is often bitter and prolonged litigation.
Commercialization and problematic billing practices are other
causes of dissatisfaction with the legal profession. Advocates turned
legal profession into business.
They tilted toward the commercial, rather than the service
component of the profession.
The main reason of the search for cases and the initiation of
litigation became advocates‘ fee. The establishment of large law
firms led to the belief that these firms accept the cases devoid of
2.6 Unauthorized Practice in Legal Profession
Unauthorized Practice is the performance of professional
services such as the rendering of medical treatment or legal
assistance by a person who is not licensed by the state to do so.
Unauthorized practice of law is the practice of law by a person,
typically a non lawyer, who has not been licensed or admitted to
practice law in a given jurisdiction.
Unauthorized practice of law is engaging in the practice of law
by persons or entities not authorized to practice law pursuant to
state law or use the designations lawyer, attorney at law,
counselor at law, law office, or other equivalent words by any
person or entity not authorized to practice, the use of which is
reasonably likely to induce others to believe that the person or
entity is authorized to be engaged in the practice of law in the
state (Law Library -American Law and Legal Information: American ENcyclopedia,
Volume 1).
CHAPTER THREE
JUDICIAL CONDUCT