The Attorney-Client Relationship

The attorney has been the backbone of the judicial system in not only the United States, but the entire world for centuries. Without this fundamental the legal system as we know it would be entirely more difficult for the common man to understand. Since the earliest forms of civilization law and the judicial system has revolved around the lawyer.

Throughout the many centuries of this practice it has evolved and produced more stringent laws involving the practice, as well as an increase in policies with the clients. On of the most fundamental of these policies is the Attorney-Client relationship, a relationship bound by both legal standards and respect.

First off, the history of the attorney goes back to as early as the Greek civilizations for some, and others say it was far before that. I personally would like to consider the Hellenistic view, as it was a time of great learning as well as a time of growth in rhetoric and oration.

The first lawyers were just that basically, great speakers. Surprisingly the start of the profession was not as fashionable as it is today. The earliest paid lawyers, known as advocates, were limited by the Roman Empire.

They could be paid a maximum of 10,000 sesterces, which was a rather small sum of the time. While the job lost much of its importance during the Middle Ages, the attorney became a prevalent job shortly after the beginning of the Renaissance. The job itself has evolved greatly throughout the years as societies have strengthened their laws and governments drastically in the past few centuries. (“Lawyers”)

In contrast, the attorney-client relationship has been around in legal terms a much shorter time. While it has always been a more implied style of policy, during the mid 1800s it became a legal contract more-so for lawyers. The policy itself simply means that, much like a priest, they must promise security of confidential information and all information that the client wishes to remain between the two. (Missouri Bar) One of the earliest rulings that started the policy was a Supreme Court decision in 1850 stating that,

“There are few of the business relations of life involving a higher trust and confidence than that of attorney and client, or, generally speaking, one more honorably and faithfully discharged; few more anxiously guarded by the law, or governed by sterner principles of morality and justice; and it is the duty of the court to administer them in a corresponding spirit, and to be watchful and industrious, to see that confidence thus reposed shall not be used to the detriment or prejudice of the rights of the party bestowing it.” (“A-C Relationship: Defined…”)