Abstract

The paper focus on the theoretical developments of the dominant conception of legal ethics, grounded on the principles of partisanship, neutrality and non-accountability - which claims that lawyers must adopt a special attitude towards their client's interest, acting as a "hired-gun" -, and on the recent turn of legal ethics in the legal positivist theory. Positivist accounts of legal ethics claims that law owes its respect to its ability to solve coordination problems and resolve and supersede the normative controversy and the moral and social disagreement. According to the positivistic jurisprudence of lawyering, lawyers should act to protect the legal entitlements of clients, not to advance their interests. The paper specially focus on the arguments provided by Bradley W. Wendel and Tim Dare, attempting to offer a critical analysis.