Lawyers,under the law

THE UNITED STATES

• Unlike in India,the US does not have a national bar council. Instead,aspiring advocates give state bar exams,and are enrolled in state bars.

• There is a two-tier regulatory system. In case of misconduct,the state bar can punish the errant advocate,in some cases even cancel the ‘law licence’. Also,the court gives the advocate the right to appear before that court. The court can withdraw this right as a punitive measure.

• Regulation of lawyers is relatively strong in the US; Bill Clinton’s bar licence was famously cancelled after he admitted to perjury in the Monica Lewinsky affair.

• US lawyers can be sued by clients in court for malpractice.

THE UNITED KINGDOM

• Lawyers are divided into solicitors and barristers. The conduct of solicitors was regulated by Law Societies,and the conduct of barristers by the “inns of court”.

• The Legal Services Act of 2007,set up a Legal Services Board to look into disciplinary matters. The purpose of the Act was to prevent conflict of interest in Law Societies which acted as both a lobbying group and a regulator. Thus,a separate body was set up to deal with lawyer regulation.

INDIA

• The Bar Council of India and state bar councils have the statutory power to discipline advocates. This means that the bar councils look after lawyer welfare as well as lawyer regulation — creating potential conflict of interest issues.

• Data on total number of advocates punished is hard to come by. The Tamil Nadu Bar Council claims to have punished 15 advocates in 2008.

• Indian lawyers cannot be sued in consumer courts for malpractice,as they perform more than “professional service”.