Definition of Lawyer
It is known as a lawyer to that person graduated from the career of law and who assumes the defense of a person or party in a trial, or in any judicial or administrative process . But the job of a lawyer is not limited to this, but can also provide legal advice .
There is no consensus among authors about the origin of the profession of lawyers , but many experts believe that the point of departure is found in the speakers and writers of Athenian Greece who were responsible for the defense of citizens accused of any cause. Nevertheless, the legal structure of the Roman Empire is recognized as the first systematic historical framework for the emergence of Law as we understand it today in the Western world.
There is no consensus among authors about the origin of the profession of lawyers , but many experts believe that the point of departure is found in the speakers and writers of Athenian Greece who were responsible for the defense of citizens accused of any cause. Nevertheless, the legal structure of the Roman Empire is recognized as the first systematic historical framework for the emergence of Law as we understand it today in the Western world.
The professional practice of this profession requires, in most countries , that the lawyer has a state authorization or that he is registered in a Bar Association or similar institution.
It is important to emphasize that there is a document that is called "Decalogue of the lawyer" and that it is a set of "commandments" that is considered to be strictly enforced by all legal professionals. Among those maxims are, for example, to love their profession, to be loyal both to the client and the adversary and also to the law itself, to fight for justice, to work hard, to tolerate and to have patience.
The lawyer is not only responsible for defending the interests of a third party during a trial. One of its most important functions is the preventive one, where it deals with advising its clients and drafting the documents and contracts in such a way that no legal conflicts arise.
The lawyer can also be an extrajudicial mediator , to avoid that a problem or confrontation becomes a judicial procedure.
In general, those who must appear before a court must necessarily have a lawyer. The lawyer supposes a guarantee of legitimate defense for the one involved in the process. For that reason, the writings and judicial presentations are delivered with the signature of both, both the client and his lawyer.
Those citizens who do not have the economic resources to pay for the services of a lawyer receive free legal aid: these are the official lawyers or ex officio lawyers , who depend on the State .
In the same way, and in a colloquial manner, it is important that we underline the fact that the expression devil's advocate is used. With it what is tried is to express that a worker of the Law in question is capable of defending any cause even in which he does not believe.
Precisely in the cinematographic field exists a film that takes by title "The lawyer of the Devil". In 1997, this film was premiered, directed by Taylor Hackford and starring Robert de Niro and Keanu Reeves, in which he tells how an ambitious and successful young lawyer is able to put his wife aside, seriously ill, in order to get his client, who knows guilty of a serious crime, is declared innocent.
There is also the term rain-fed lawyer that is used regularly to refer to that lawyer who not only does not practice as such but also lacks the skills and skills necessary to do so.
It should be noted that the lawyer is subject to professional secrecy (can not disclose the information provided by his client). Its obligation is to litigate according to the social responsibility that its role confers on it.
