RULE 1.1 COMPETENCE
Effective Date: 1/31/1986
Obsolete Date: 8/1/2006
A lawyer shall provide competent representation to a client. Competent representation requires the legal knowledge, skill, thoroughness and preparation reasonably necessary for the representation.
COMMENT
In determining whether a lawyer employs the requisite knowledge and skill in a particular matter, relevant factors include the relative complexity and specialized nature of the matter, the lawyer's general experience, the lawyer's training and experience in the field in question, the preparation and study the lawyer is able to give the matter and whether it is feasible to refer the matter to, or associate or consult with, a lawyer of established competence in the field in question.
A lawyer need not necessarily have special training or prior experience to handle legal problems of a type with which the lawyer is unfamiliar. A newly admitted lawyer can be as competent as a practitioner with long experience. Some important legal skills, such as the analysis of precedent, the evaluation of evidence and legal drafting, are required in all legal problems. Perhaps the most fundamental legal skill consists of determining what kind of legal problems a situation may involve, a skill that necessarily transcends any particular specialized knowledge. A lawyer can provide adequate representation in a wholly novel field through necessary study. Competent representation can also be provided through the association of a lawyer of established competence in the field in question.
In an emergency, a lawyer may give advice or assistance in a matter in which the lawyer does not have the skill ordinarily required to competently represent the client without violating these Rules.What an emergency is depends upon all of the circumstances which surround the request for advice or assistance and the decision of the lawyer to give it. Relevant circumstances include, but are not limited to, the client's past relationship with the lawyer; whether referral to or consultation or association with another lawyer would be impractical taking into account the means of the client, the matter upon which advice is requested and the time and location of the contact with the lawyer; whether the lawyer has been requested to render immediate services;and whether the lawyer reasonably determined that legal services were immediately required.Even in an emergency, however, assistance should be limited to that reasonably necessary in the circumstances, for ill considered action under emergency conditions can jeopardize the client's interest. A lawyer should understand that this Rule, while containing an emergency exception to the general rule of competence, may not limit the lawyer's liability to a client for malpractice should it prove that the lawyer's advice damaged the client. See Rule 1.8(i).
A lawyer may accept representation where the requisite level of competence can be achieved by reasonable preparation.
Thoroughness and Preparation
Competent handling of a particular matter includes inquiry into and analysis of the factual and legal elements of the problem, and use of methods and procedures meeting the standards of competent practitioners. It also includes adequate preparation. The required attention and preparation are determined in part by what is at stake; major litigation and complex transactions ordinarily require more elaborate treatment than matters of lesser consequence.
Reference: Minutes of the Professional Conduct Subcommittee of the Attorney Standards Committee on 09/29/83, 09/20/85 and 01/31/86