professional responsibility, student practice, and the clinical

GONZAGA LAW REVIEW
[Vol. 26:2
litigation consistent with the interests of the client." ' Unnecessary or
excessive delay in handling a client's case can adversely affect the client's
interests. Even if the delay does not affect substantive or procedural rights,
it may cause the client needless anxiety. It may also frustrate the prompt and
efficient work of courts or administrative tribunals.
Lawyers also have a duty of fairness to the opposing party and
counsel 6s and an obligation to respect the rights of third persons.' A
lawyer's responsibility to the client does not imply that it is acceptable to
unnecessarily embarrass, delay or burden others. Substantial legal reasons
may, of course, dictate a course of conduct which does have these effects.
But responsible professional conduct should take into account the larger
context in which the lawyer operates and the power he or she has over lives
of others. 67
Where the clinical teacher believes intervention will expedite resolution
of the legal problem and save time, money and anxiety for the client and
64. Id. at Rule 3.2.
65. Id. at Rule 3.4.
66. Id. at Rule 4.4.
67. The clinical teacher who neglects these considerations can endanger the student's
professional responsibility growth by showing indifference to standards of professional
conduct not directly related to achieving the client's objectives. If clinical teachers are to
avoid sending the message that "winning" is the only standard to be valued in our system
of justice, it is essential that teabhers as well as students undertake an analysis of their
feelings towards professional responsibility-particularly their feelings about the value of
caring for and responding to the needs of others. See R. JACK & D. C. JACK, supra note
3; Leleiko, supra note 61, at 656. In 1986, the ABA commission on professionalism issued
a report which was approved for distribution, but not adapted formally as ABA policy, by
the ABA House of delegates. The report has proved highly influential. Section B(5) of the
report states: "The Bar should place increasing emphasis on the role of lawyers as officers
of the court, or more broadly, as officers of the system of justice.. . [Lawyers] have a duty
to make the system of justice work properly."
The ABA House of delegates adopted the ABA Creed of Professionalism in 1988
which states in part:
As a lawyer I must strive to make our system of justice work fairly and
efficiently . . . I will endeavor to achieve my client's objectives . . . as
expeditiously and economically as possible ... I will advise my client against
... insisting on tactics which are intended to delay resolution of the matter or
harrass or drain the financial resources of the opposing party . . . I will
remember that, in addition to commitment to my client's cause, my responsibilities
as a lawyer include a devotion to the public good.