Colorado Supreme Court
Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel
Promoting Professionalism. Protecting the Public.
What is
professionalism anyway?
Leading
up to October’s Professionalism Month, a committee of leading lawyers sought to
define the term. Here is the result.
By
JUDGE ROBERT HAWTHORNE and CATHERINE SHEA
Fall 2015
As you may know, October is Legal
Professionalism Month in Colorado. Legal Professionalism Month aims to
encourage members of the legal profession, professional entitles, and judicial
officers and staff to rededicate themselves to demonstrating the highest
standards of professionalism and integrity and promote public confidence in the
profession and the court system.
Recently, the Colorado and Denver Bar
Associations’ joint Professionalism Coordinating Council (“PCC”) undertook the monumental
task of defining the term “professionalism.” The PCC charged a subcommittee of
lawyers and one law student with this mission.
Over the course of several months, the
Definition Subcommittee met multiple times and reviewed various draft
definitions, debating the relative merits and drawbacks of each. The
Subcommittee wanted a succinct way of answering the oft-asked question, “What
is professionalism?” The result of this collaboration? The following short and
sweet—but also deeply meaningful—statement:
Professionalism is conduct reflecting
the values embodied in the
Colorado Attorney Oath of Admission, the Colorado
Principles of Professionalism,
and the Colorado Rules of Professional Conduct. These values require attorneys
always to act competently, civilly, and with integrity and to commit themselves
to the public good and to furthering the interests of justice.
The definition addresses three key
elements: conduct, values, and duty.
Note that professionalism is defined concretely, as a way of acting toward
others, rather than as an abstract idea that is subject to the interpretation
of the actor. Although the PCC debated whether to incorporate the Oath,
Principles, and Rules by reference, those items are referenced not simply for
their content, but as evidence of the values attorneys should always strive to
uphold, which are further explained in the second sentence.
The above definition was formally
adopted by the PCC on March 11, 2015, and Chief Justice Nancy Rice has endorsed
it as well. You will see it frequently, from the PCC’s website to the new Office
of Attorney Regulation Counsel website (to be published on November 1, 2015).
The PCC hopes this definition will inform the public and inspire attorneys, reminding
them of the important duties with which they are charged. For a more in-depth
discussion on the topic of this article, please see “Why Professionalism Matters,” in the September 2015 edition of The Docket.
The Honorable Robert Hawthorne is a judge on the Colorado
Court of Appeals. Catherine Shea is Assistant Regulation Counsel in the Office
of Attorney Regulation Counsel.