Texas Commercial Law Firm

The importance of ethical considerations in providing legal services goes without saying. A basic understanding of ethical considerations emphasizing the issue of conflicts is essential to reduce the risk of inadvertent violations.

The rules of professional conduct are found in Section 9, Article 10 of the State Bar Rules, Tex. Rev. Civ. Stat. Ann., Title 14 (the “Texas Code of Professional Responsibility”). The Texas Code consists of nine canons of ethics (the “Canons”) accompanied by Disciplinary Rules (the “Disciplinary Rules” or, the “Rules”) as adopted by the Texas Supreme Court. The Canons state the fundamental general principles governing the practice of law while the Disciplinary Rules set out the minimum level of conduct required of lawyers. The Canons are “aspirational in character” and are due the “utmost consideration when interpreting the disciplinary rules”. State v. Baker, 539 S.W.2d 367 (Tex. Civ. App.-- Austin 1976, writ ref'd n.r.e.). The Disciplinary Rules most likely to apply in the foreclosure and repossession context are those related to conflict of interest.

Immediately following the Disciplinary Rules are comments. These comments are permissive and define areas where a lawyer may exercise professional discretion. When a lawyer exercises such discretion, whether by acting or not acting, no disciplinary action may be taken for failure to conform to the Comments.

The Disciplinary Rules may be considered the baseline of acceptable lawyer conduct. While compliance with the Disciplinary Rules is mandatory, the Rules do not define standards of civil liability of lawyers and violation of a rule does not give rise to a private cause of action or create any presumption that a legal duty to a client has been breached.

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