Iowa R. Prof'l Conduct, Preamble

[1] A lawyer, as a member of the legal profession, is a representative of clients, an officer of the

legal system, and a public citizen having special responsibility for the quality of justice.

[2] As a representative of clients, a lawyer performs various functions. As advisor, a lawyer

provides a client with an informed understanding of the client’s legal rights and obligations and

explains their practical implications. As advocate, a lawyer zealously asserts the client’s position

under the rules of the adversary system. As negotiator, a lawyer seeks a result advantageous to the

client but consistent with requirements of honest dealings with others. As an evaluator, a lawyer acts

by examining a client’s legal affairs and reporting about them to the client or to others.

[3] In addition to these representational functions, a lawyer may serve as a third-party neutral, a

nonrepresentational role helping the parties to resolve a dispute or other matter. Some of these rules

apply directly to lawyers who are or have served as third-party neutrals. See, e.g., rules 32:1.12

and 32:2.4. In addition, there are rules that apply to lawyers who are not active in the practice of

law or to practicing lawyers even when they are acting in a nonprofessional capacity. For example, a

lawyer who commits fraud in the conduct of a business is subject to discipline for engaging in conduct

involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation. See rule 32:8.4.

[4] In all professional functions a lawyer should be competent, prompt, and diligent. A lawyer

should maintain communication with a client concerning the representation. A lawyer should keep

in confidence information relating to representation of a client except so far as disclosure is required

or permitted by the Iowa Rules of Professional Conduct or other law.

[5] A lawyer’s conduct should conform to the requirements of the law, both in professional service

to clients and in the lawyer’s business and personal affairs. A lawyer should use the law’s procedures

only for legitimate purposes and not to harass or intimidate others. A lawyer should demonstrate

respect for the legal system and for those who serve it, including judges, other lawyers, and public

officials. While it is a lawyer’s duty, when necessary, to challenge the rectitude of official action, it

is also a lawyer’s duty to uphold legal process.

[6] As a public citizen, a lawyer should seek improvement of the law, access to the legal system,

the administration of justice, and the quality of service rendered by the legal profession. As a member

of a learned profession, a lawyer should cultivate knowledge of the law beyond its use for clients,

employ that knowledge in reform of the law, and work to strengthen legal education. In addition, a

lawyer should further the public’s understanding of and confidence in the rule of law and the justice

system because legal institutions in a constitutional democracy depend on popular participation and

support to maintain their authority. A lawyer should be mindful of deficiencies in the administration of

justice and of the fact that the poor, and sometimes persons who are not poor, cannot afford adequate

legal assistance. Therefore, all lawyers should devote professional time and resources and use civic

influence to ensure equal access to our system of justice for all those who because of economic or

social barriers cannot afford or secure adequate legal counsel. A lawyer should aid the legal profession

in pursuing these objectives and should help the bar regulate itself in the public interest.

[7] Many of a lawyer’s professional responsibilities are prescribed in the Iowa Rules of Professional

Conduct, as well as substantive and procedural law. However, a lawyer is also guided by personal

conscience and the approbation of professional peers. A lawyer should strive to attain the highest

level of skill, to improve the law and the legal profession, and to exemplify the legal profession’s

ideals of public service.

[8] A lawyer’s responsibilities as a representative of clients, an officer of the legal system, and a

public citizen are usually harmonious. Thus, when an opposing party is well represented, a lawyer

can be a zealous advocate on behalf of a client and at the same time assume that justice is being done.

So also, a lawyer can be sure that preserving client confidences ordinarily serves the public interest

because people are more likely to seek legal advice, and thereby heed their legal obligations, when

they know their communications will be private.

[9] In the nature of law practice, however, conflicting responsibilities are encountered. Virtually all

difficult ethical problems arise from conflict between a lawyer’s responsibilities to clients, to the legal

system, and to the lawyer’s own interest in remaining an ethical person while earning a satisfactory

living. The Iowa Rules of Professional Conduct often prescribe terms for resolving such conflicts.

Within the framework of these rules, however, many difficult issues of professional discretion can

arise. Such issues must be resolved through the exercise of sensitive professional and moral judgment

guided by the basic principles underlying the rules. These principles include the lawyer’s obligation

zealously to protect and pursue a client’s legitimate interests, within the bounds of the law, while

maintaining a professional, courteous, and civil attitude toward all persons involved in the legal

system.

[10] The legal profession is largely self-governing. Although other professions also have been

granted powers of self-government, the legal profession is unique in this respect because of the close

relationship between the profession and the processes of government and law enforcement. This

connection is manifested in the fact that ultimate authority over the legal profession is vested largely

in the courts.

[11] To the extent that lawyers meet the obligations of their professional calling, the occasion

for government regulation is obviated. Self-regulation also helps maintain the legal profession’s

independence from government domination. An independent legal profession is an important force

in preserving government under law, for abuse of legal authority is more readily challenged by a

profession whose members are not dependent on government for the right to practice.

[12] The legal profession’s relative autonomy carries with it special responsibilities of

self-government. The profession has a responsibility to ensure that its regulations are conceived in

the public interest and not in furtherance of parochial or self-interested concerns of the bar. Every

lawyer is responsible for observance of the Iowa Rules of Professional Conduct. A lawyer should

also aid in securing their observance by other lawyers. Neglect of these responsibilities compromises

the independence of the profession and the public interest which it serves.

[13] Lawyers play a vital role in the preservation of society. The fulfillment of this role requires an

understanding by lawyers of their relationship to our legal system. The Iowa Rules of Professional

Conduct, when properly applied, serve to define that relationship.