Florida personal injury attorneys are subject to the same rules as all other Florida attorneys.
Florida personal injury attorneys understand that the practice of law is a noble profession, with standards in certain respects different from those applicable to an ordinary business. Practicing law is not a fundamental right, but rather a privilege which confers rights as well as responsibilities.
The privilege to practice law is in no sense proprietary, and it may not be assigned or inherited. A license to practice law confers no vested right to the holder thereof but is a conditional privilege that is revocable for cause.
The profession of the practice of law requires Florida personal injury lawyers to be honest, competent, and diligent in their dealings with clients, other lawyers, and courts. The Florida Bar v. Varner, 992 So. 2d 224 (Fla. 2008).
Florida personal injury lawyers are required to have high ethical standards because members of the public are asked to trust lawyers in their greatest hours of need; without such standards, the entire legal profession would be in jeopardy as public trust would dissipate. The Florida Bar v. Valentine-Miller, 974 So. 2d 333 (Fla. 2008).
The Florida lawyer is an essential component of the administration of justice. The attorney's allegiance is first to his or her country and second to his or her client. The Florida personal injury attorney is first an officer of the court and, as such, must serve the ends of justice with openness, candor, and fairness, and must comport himself or herself with the trial court's rulings. Attorneys are deemed officers of the court for the administration of justice, and are amenable to the rules and discipline of the court with respect to procedural matters that are not in conflict with the state laws or constitution.
Florida personal injury attorneys become officers of the court upon taking an oath adopted by the Florida Supreme Court. The oath details the responsibilities and obligations of attorneys, such as the duty of attorneys not to refuse to represent the defenseless or oppressed for personal considerations.
Observation: A Florida personal injury attorney is charged with the great public responsibility of aiding in the administration of justice and an attorney should view his or her work not as mere money-getting but as service of the highest order, not as a mere occupation but as a ministry.
As officers of the court, Florida attorneys have a responsibility to assist the court in the administration of the law. For example, a Florida personal injury attorney has the duty to the court to appear when his or her cases are called, and a duty to the court to refer to supporting case law. Also, Florida attorneys owe a duty to the public when advising a corporation and preparing a private placement memoranda.
Although a Florida attorney is an officer of the court, he or she is not an official of the state in a political sense; attorneys are not entrusted with matters of state policy and make individual decisions with respect to their own businesses. An attorney does not hold an office or public trust in the constitutional or statutory sense of that term, and he or she is not a state or county officer.
Attorneys that are duly admitted, or authorized to practice law in the state, have the right to appear before any court of the state, or any public board, committee, or officer, on behalf of any client, and may also appear as amicus curiae if permitted.
Professionals, such as lawyers are always agents of their clients. It is a general rule that a client is bound by the acts of his or her Florida attorney within the scope of the latter's authority.
