PREAMBLE AND SCOPE


                              PREAMBLE:
                     A LAWYER'S RESPONSIBILITIES

  [1] [Washington revision] A lawyer, as a member of the legal profession,
is a representative of clients, an officer of the court and a public
citizen having special responsibility for the quality of justice.

  [2] [Washington revision] As a representative of clients, a lawyer
performs various functions. As advisory, a lawyer provides a client with
an informed understanding of the client's legal rights and obligations and
explains their practical implications. As advocate, a lawyer
conscientiously and ardently asserts the clients position under the rules
of the adversary system. As negotiator, a lawyer seeks a result
advantageous to the client but consistent with requirements of honest
dealings with others. As an evaluator, a lawyer acts by examining a
client's legal affairs and reporting about them to the client or to
others.

  [3] In addition to these representational functions, a lawyer may serve
as a third-party neutral, a nonrepresentational role helping the parties
to resolve a dispute or other matter. Some of these Rules apply directly
to lawyers who are or have served as third-party neutrals. See, e.g.,
Rules 1.12 and 2.4. In addition, there are Rules that apply to lawyers who
are not active in the practice of law or to practicing lawyers even when
they are acting in a nonprofessional capacity. For example, a lawyer who
commits fraud in the conduct of a business is subject to discipline for
engaging in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or
misrepresentation. See Rule 8.4.

  [4] [Washington revision] In all professional functions a lawyer should
be competent, prompt and diligent. A lawyer should maintain communication
with a client concerning the representation. A lawyer should keep in
confidence information relating to representation of a client except so
far as disclosure is required or permitted by the Rules of Professional Conduct.

  [5] A lawyer's conduct should conform to the requirements of the law,
both in professional service to clients and in the lawyer's business and
personal affairs. A lawyer should use the law's procedures only for
legitimate purposes and not to harass or intimidate others. A lawyer
should demonstrate respect for the legal system and for those who serve
it, including judges, other lawyers and public officials. While it is a
lawyer's duty, when necessary, to challenge the rectitude of official
action, it is also a lawyer's duty to uphold legal process.

  [6] As a public citizen, a lawyer should seek improvement of the law,
access to the legal system, the administration of justice and the quality
of service rendered by the legal profession. As a member of a learned
profession, a lawyer should cultivate knowledge of the law beyond its use
for clients, employ that knowledge in reform of the law and work to
strengthen legal education. In addition, a lawyer should further the
public's understanding of and confidence in the rule of law and the
justice system because legal institutions in a constitutional democracy
depend on popular participation and support to maintain their authority. A
lawyer should be mindful of deficiencies in the administration of justice
and of the fact that the poor, and sometimes persons who are not poor,
cannot afford adequate legal assistance. Therefore, all lawyers should
devote professional time and resources and use civic influence to ensure
equal access to our system of justice for all those who because of
economic or social barriers cannot afford or secure adequate legal
counsel. A lawyer should aid the legal profession in pursuing these
objectives and should help the bar regulate itself in the public interest.

  [7] Many of a lawyer's professional responsibilities are prescribed in
the Rules of Professional Conduct, as well as substantive and procedural
law. However, a lawyer is also guided by personal conscience and the
approbation of professional peers. A lawyer should strive to attain the
highest level of skill, to improve the law and the legal profession and to
exemplify the legal profession's ideals of public service.

  [8] [Washington revision] A lawyer's responsibilities as a
representative of clients, an officer of the legal system and a public
citizen are usually harmonious. Thus, when an opposing party is well
represented, a lawyer can be a conscientious and ardent advocate on behalf
of a client and at the same time assume that justice is being done. So
also, a lawyer can be sure that preserving client confidences ordinarily
serves the public interest because people are more likely to seek legal
advice, and thereby heed their legal obligations, when they know their
communications will be private.

  [9] [Washington revision] In the nature of law practice, however,
conflicting responsibilities are encountered. Virtually all difficult
ethical problems arise from conflict between a lawyer's responsibilities
to clients, to the legal system and to the lawyer's own interest in
remaining an ethical person while earning a satisfactory living. The Rules
of Professional Conduct often prescribe terms for resolving such
conflicts. Within the framework of these Rules, however, many difficult
issues of professional discretion can arise. Such issues must be resolved
through the exercise of sensitive professional and moral judgment guided
by the basic principles underlying the Rules. These principles include the
lawyer's obligation conscientiously and ardently to protect and pursue a
client's legitimate interests, within the bounds of the law, while
maintaining a professional, courteous and civil attitude toward all
persons involved in the legal system.

  [10] The legal profession is largely self-governing. Although other
professions also have been granted powers of self-government, the legal
profession is unique in this respect because of the close relationship
between the profession and the processes of government and law
enforcement. This connection is manifested in the fact that ultimate
authority over the legal profession is vested largely in the courts.

  [11] To the extent that lawyers meet the obligations of their
professional calling, the occasion for government regulation is obviated.
Self-regulation also helps maintain the legal profession's independence
from government domination. An independent legal profession is an
important force in preserving government under law, for abuse of legal
authority is more readily challenged by a profession whose members are not
dependent on government for the right to practice.

  [12] The legal profession's relative autonomy carries with it special
responsibilities of self-government. The profession has a responsibility
to assure that its regulations are conceived in the public interest and
not in furtherance of parochial or self-interested concerns of the bar.
Every lawyer is responsible for observance of the Rules of Professional
Conduct. A lawyer should also aid in securing their observance by other
lawyers. Neglect of these responsibilities compromises the independence of
the profession and the public interest which it serves.

  [13] Lawyers play a vital role in the preservation of society. The
fulfillment of this role requires an understanding by lawyers of their
relationship to our legal system. The Rules of Professional Conduct, when
properly applied, serve to define that relationship.


                                 SCOPE

   [14] The Rules of Professional Conduct are rules of reason. They should
be interpreted with reference to the purposes of legal representation and
of the law itself. Some of the Rules are imperatives, cast in the terms
"shall" or "shall  not."  These define proper conduct for purposes of
professional discipline. Others, generally cast in the  term  "may" are
permissive and define areas under the Rules in which the lawyer has
discretion to exercise professional judgment.  No disciplinary action
should be taken  when the lawyer chooses not to act or acts  within the
bounds of such discretion. Other rules define the nature of relationships
between the lawyer and others. The Rules are thus partly obligatory and
disciplinary and partly constitutive and descriptive in that they define a
lawyer's professional role. Many of the Comments use the term "should."
Comments do not add obligations to the Rules but provide guidance for
practicing in compliance with the Rules.

  [15] The Rules presuppose a larger legal context shaping the lawyer's
role. That context includes court rules and statutes relating to matters
of licensure, laws defining specific obligations of lawyers and
substantive and procedural law in general. The Comments are sometimes used
to alert lawyers to their responsibilities under such other law.

  [16] Compliance with the Rules, as with all law in an open society,
depends primarily upon understanding and voluntary compliance, secondarily
upon reinforcement by peer and public opinion and finally, when necessary,
upon enforcement through disciplinary proceedings. The Rules do not,
however, exhaust the moral and ethical considerations that should inform a
lawyer, for no worthwhile human activity can be completely defined by
legal rules. The Rules simply provide a framework for the ethical practice
of law.

  [17] [Washington revision] For purposes of determining the lawyer's
authority and responsibility, principles of substantive law external to
these Rules determine whether a client-lawyer relationship exists. Most of
the duties flowing from the client-lawyer relationship attach only after
the client-lawyer relationship is formed. But there are some duties, such
as that of confidentiality under Rule 1.6, that may attach when the lawyer
agrees to consider whether a client-lawyer relationship shall be
established. See Rule 1.18 and Washington Comment [11] thereto. Whether a
client-lawyer relationship exists for any specific purpose can depend on
the circumstances and is a question of fact.

  [18] Under various legal provisions, including constitutional,
statutory and common law, the responsibilities of government lawyers may
include authority concerning legal matters that ordinarily reposes in the
client in private client-lawyer relationships. For example, a lawyer for a
government agency may have authority on behalf of the government to decide
upon settlement or whether to appeal from an adverse judgment. Such
authority in various respects is generally vested in the attorney general
and the state's attorney in state government, and their federal
counterparts, and the same may be true of other government law officers.
Also, lawyers under the supervision of these officers may be authorized to
represent several government agencies in intragovernmental legal
controversies in circumstances where a private lawyer could not represent
multiple private clients. These Rules do not abrogate any such authority.

  [19] Failure to comply with an obligation or prohibition imposed by a
Rule is a basis for invoking the disciplinary process. The Rules
presuppose that disciplinary assessment of a lawyer's conduct will be made
on the basis of the facts and circumstances as they existed at the time of
the conduct in question and in recognition of the fact that a lawyer often
has to act upon uncertain or incomplete evidence of the situation.
Moreover, the Rules presuppose that whether or not discipline should be
imposed for a violation, and the severity of a sanction, depend on all the
circumstances, such as the willfulness and seriousness of the violation,
extenuating factors and whether there have been previous violations.

  [20] Violation of a Rule should not itself give rise to a cause of
action against a lawyer nor should it create any presumption in such a
case that a legal duty has been breached. In addition, violation of a Rule
does not necessarily warrant any other nondisciplinary remedy, such as
disqualification of a lawyer in pending litigation. The Rules are designed
to provide guidance to lawyers and to provide a structure for regulating
conduct through disciplinary agencies. They are not designed to be a basis
for civil liability. Furthermore, the purpose of the Rules can be
subverted when they are invoked by opposing parties as procedural weapons.
The fact that a Rule is a just basis for a lawyer's self-assessment, or
for sanctioning a lawyer under the administration of a disciplinary
authority, does not imply that an antagonist in a collateral proceeding or
transaction has standing to seek enforcement of the Rule. Nevertheless,
since the Rules do establish standards of conduct by lawyers, a lawyer's
violation of a Rule may be evidence of breach of the applicable standard
of conduct.

  [21] The Comment accompanying each Rule explains and illustrates the
meaning and purpose of the Rule. The Preamble and this note on Scope
provide general orientation. The Comments are intended as guides to
interpretation, but the text of each Rule is authoritative.

Additional Washington Comments (22 - 23)

  [22] Nothing in these Rules is intended to change existing Washington
law on the use of the Rules of Professional Conduct in a civil action. See
Hizey v. Carpenter, 119 Wn.2d 251, 830 P.2d 646 (1992).

  [23] The structure of these Rules generally parallels the structure of
the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct. The
exceptions to this approach are Rule 1.15A, which varies substantially
from Model Rule 1.15, and Rules 1.15B and 5.8, neither of which is found
in the Model Rules. In other cases, when a provision has been wholly
deleted from the counterpart Model Rule, the deletion is signaled by the
phrase "Reserved." When a provision has been added, it is generally
appended at the end of the Rule or the paragraph in which the variation
appears. Whenever the text of a Comment varies materially from the text of
its counterpart Comment in the Model Rules, the alteration is signaled by
the phrase "Washington revision." Comments that have no counterpart in the
Model Rules are compiled at the end of each Comment section under the
heading "Additional Washington Comment(s)" and are consecutively numbered.
As used herein, the term "former Washington RPC" refers to Washington's
Rules of Professional Conduct (adopted effective September 1, 1985, with
amendments through September 1, 2003). The term "Model Rule(s)" refers to
the 2004 Edition of the American Bar Association's Model Rules of
Professional Conduct.


[Amended effective September 1, 2006.]