Attorney McGuire, Clearwater, FL charged me $10k to provide criminal defense representation. He did not provide this service yet refused to refund the money charged for services never rendered.
I needed criminal defense representation when I was falsely accused of a felony battery on a law enforcement officer that I did not commit in late November 2017 by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s office.
2 days after the event, after not having sleep for 48 hours, I interviewed attorney John McGuire of McGuire Law. Attorney McGuire was aware of the situation and assured me that he could assist with the criminal defense representation on my case. His retainer fee for this service was $10,000.
McGuire attempted to coerce me into a plea deal rather than provide criminal defense representation.
McGuire Law should not have taken this case or charged and accepted a retainer for my criminal defense if they were not able to provide this service, either due to insufficient time to spend on the case or lack of criminal defense representation skill and knowledge, or worst case unethical behavior.
During the initial interview with John McGuire, McGuire Law, he represented to me that he was expert at criminal defense and had an exemplary reputation. I paid McGuire Law the requested $10,000.00 retainer for my criminal defense.
This criminal defense representation and work and was not accomplished by McGuire Law firm.
Explanation for my complaint:
A considerable aspect of the work required by a criminal defense attorney is to have a clear understanding of the US Constitution, including the Fourth Amendment, Fifth and Sixth Amendments, and the Fourteenth Amendment. The attorney must fully understand each of these rights and use this knowledge for his client’s defense. Initial work on any criminal case involves review of the charges and the claimed facts and analysis of constitutional violations, the prima facie burden of the prosecution, defenses, and affirmative defenses; as well as potential sentence and sentencing issues. Determining if there exists probable cause for the case is the criminal defense attorney’s responsibility to their client. A criminal defense lawyer determines if the case can be won on constitutional grounds due to illegal conduct by the government.
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.
An example of some initial steps that should have been accomplished in my criminal defense but were not accomplished by McGuire Law are:
1. States evidence was never obtained
a. Full and complete police report
b. All video surveillance pertaining to arrest and booking
2. Confirming with the States Attorney that I did not commit these crimes and was unwilling to discuss a deal.
Contrary to my request, McGuire Law provided the following which is the opposite of criminal defense representation:
1. McGuire Law was negotiating a deal for misdemeanor assault on a law enforcement officer without my knowledge or consent.
2. I was guided by McGuire Law not to take any steps that may upset the arresting officer.
3. McGuire Law instructed me that my research of public records on the current performance issues within the Pinellas County Sheriff’s office was illegal since I was a felon.
4. McGuire Law instructed me that I was a felon and was not permitted to travel without permission by the court. Obvious incorrect advice since the case was not settled.
5. I was told by McGuire Law that we would not provide the documents (exculpatory evidence) proving my innocence because Law Enforcement Officer’s never lie and this evidence should not be considered by the court. I was instructed that we should not upset the arresting officer.
Following is the evidentiary information that McGuire would not present to The State on my behalf as it may upset the arresting officer and was not pertinent to the case:
a. Phycologist anger assessment documenting my mature and stable emotional intelligence, especially when someone acts aggressively toward me. Pertinent as the sheriff assaulted me a few feet before the entrance of the booking room at the Pinellas County Sheriff’s station and I acted calmly. The result was bruising to my arms and a swollen wrist.
b. Photographs of swelling and bruising on my arms and wrist caused by sheriff.
c. Excellent credit score.
d. Property ownership of 2 properties in Pinellas County without mortgages.
e. Excellent work history over 30 years as a successful executive assistant and project manager.
f. Physician’s report of lower back lumbar degeneration causing instability in my gait.
g. The fact that I have no criminal record and have always been a productive member of society.
There was no probable cause for the arrest and citations which should have been brought to light by McGuire Law as my criminal defense attorney.
It was after 9 weeks when McGuire Law suggested presenting a letter to the States Attorney, stating that I did not mean to harm the officers and that I was going to counseling for my anger issues, I knew for certain the attorneys were not appropriately representing me in this case. At that time, I started researching and interviewing alternate criminal defense attorneys as it was obvious to me this attorney was diligently working against me in support of the arresting officer.
I hired new representation on February 13, 2018. In July 2018 I was found not guilty in a jury trial.
Attorney McGuire is held to the same standard as all US licensed attorneys. American Bar Association, Center for Professional Responsibility
PREAMBLE: A LAWYER'S RESPONSIBILITIES
[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 1.12 and 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 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 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 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 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 assure 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 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 Rules of Professional Conduct, when properly applied, serve to define that relationship.
SCOPE
[14] The Rules of Professional Conduct are rules of reason. They should be interpreted with reference to the purposes of legal representation and of the law itself. Some of the Rules are imperatives, cast in the terms "shall" or "shall not." These define proper conduct for purposes of professional discipline. Others, generally cast in the term "may," are permissive and define areas under the Rules in which the lawyer has discretion to exercise professional judgment. No disciplinary action should be taken when the lawyer chooses not to act or acts within the bounds of such discretion. Other Rules define the nature of relationships between the lawyer and others. The Rules are thus partly obligatory and disciplinary and partly constitutive and descriptive in that they define a lawyer's professional role. Many of the Comments use the term "should." Comments do not add obligations to the Rules but provide guidance for practicing in compliance with the Rules.
[15] The Rules presuppose a larger legal context shaping the lawyer's role. That context includes court rules and statutes relating to matters of licensure, laws defining specific obligations of lawyers and substantive and procedural law in general. The Comments are sometimes used to alert lawyers to their responsibilities under such other law.
[16] Compliance with the Rules, as with all law in an open society, depends primarily upon understanding and voluntary compliance, secondarily upon reinforcement by peer and public opinion and finally, when necessary, upon enforcement through disciplinary proceedings. The Rules do not, however, exhaust the moral and ethical considerations that should inform a lawyer, for no worthwhile human activity can be completely defined by legal rules. The Rules simply provide a framework for the ethical practice of law.
[17] Furthermore, for purposes of determining the lawyer's authority and responsibility, principles of substantive law external to these Rules determine whether a client-lawyer relationship exists. Most of the duties flowing from the client-lawyer relationship attach only after the client has requested the lawyer to render legal services and the lawyer has agreed to do so. But there are some duties, such as that of confidentiality under Rule 1.6, that attach when the lawyer agrees to consider whether a client-lawyer relationship shall be established. See Rule 1.18. Whether a client-lawyer relationship exists for any specific purpose can depend on the circumstances and may be a question of fact.
[18] Under various legal provisions, including constitutional, statutory and common law, the responsibilities of government lawyers may include authority concerning legal matters that ordinarily reposes in the client in private client-lawyer relationships. For example, a lawyer for a government agency may have authority on behalf of the government to decide upon settlement or whether to appeal from an adverse judgment. Such authority in various respects is generally vested in the attorney general and the state's attorney in state government, and their federal counterparts, and the same may be true of other government law officers. Also, lawyers under the supervision of these officers may be authorized to represent several government agencies in intragovernmental legal controversies in circumstances where a private lawyer could not represent multiple private clients. These Rules do not abrogate any such authority.
[19] Failure to comply with an obligation or prohibition imposed by a Rule is a basis for invoking the disciplinary process. The Rules presuppose that disciplinary assessment of a lawyer's conduct will be made on the basis of the facts and circumstances as they existed at the time of the conduct in question and in recognition of the fact that a lawyer often has to act upon uncertain or incomplete evidence of the situation. Moreover, the Rules presuppose that whether or not discipline should be imposed for a violation, and the severity of a sanction, depend on all the circumstances, such as the willfulness and seriousness of the violation, extenuating factors and whether there have been previous violations.
[20] Violation of a Rule should not itself give rise to a cause of action against a lawyer nor should it create any presumption in such a case that a legal duty has been breached. In addition, violation of a Rule does not necessarily warrant any other nondisciplinary remedy, such as disqualification of a lawyer in pending litigation. The Rules are designed to provide guidance to lawyers and to provide a structure for regulating conduct through disciplinary agencies. They are not designed to be a basis for civil liability. Furthermore, the purpose of the Rules can be subverted when they are invoked by opposing parties as procedural weapons. The fact that a Rule is a just basis for a lawyer's self-assessment, or for sanctioning a lawyer under the administration of a disciplinary authority, does not imply that an antagonist in a collateral proceeding or transaction has standing to seek enforcement of the Rule. Nevertheless, since the Rules do establish standards of conduct by lawyers, a lawyer's violation of a Rule may be evidence of breach of the applicable standard of conduct.
[21] The Comment accompanying each Rule explains and illustrates the meaning and purpose of the Rule. The Preamble and this note on Scope provide general orientation. The Comments are intended as guides to interpretation, but the text of each Rule is authoritative.
I filed this report to bring to light the unethical behavior of McGuire Law. I am hopeful that this report will save others the anguish that I was caused by this attorney. This attorney states they have done nothing wrong and at this point, refuses to refund the $10K retainer that I paid even though I did not receive any criminal defense representation service.
McGuire Law Offices Reviews
Attorney McGuire, Clearwater, FL charged me $10k to provide criminal defense representation. He did not provide this service yet refused to refund the money charged for services never rendered.
I needed criminal defense representation when I was falsely accused of a felony battery on a law enforcement officer that I did not commit in late November 2017 by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s office.
2 days after the event, after not having sleep for 48 hours, I interviewed attorney John McGuire of McGuire Law. Attorney McGuire was aware of the situation and assured me that he could assist with the criminal defense representation on my case. His retainer fee for this service was $10,000.
McGuire attempted to coerce me into a plea deal rather than provide criminal defense representation.
McGuire Law should not have taken this case or charged and accepted a retainer for my criminal defense if they were not able to provide this service, either due to insufficient time to spend on the case or lack of criminal defense representation skill and knowledge, or worst case unethical behavior.
During the initial interview with John McGuire, McGuire Law, he represented to me that he was expert at criminal defense and had an exemplary reputation. I paid McGuire Law the requested $10,000.00 retainer for my criminal defense.
This criminal defense representation and work and was not accomplished by McGuire Law firm.
Explanation for my complaint:
A considerable aspect of the work required by a criminal defense attorney is to have a clear understanding of the US Constitution, including the Fourth Amendment, Fifth and Sixth Amendments, and the Fourteenth Amendment. The attorney must fully understand each of these rights and use this knowledge for his client’s defense. Initial work on any criminal case involves review of the charges and the claimed facts and analysis of constitutional violations, the prima facie burden of the prosecution, defenses, and affirmative defenses; as well as potential sentence and sentencing issues. Determining if there exists probable cause for the case is the criminal defense attorney’s responsibility to their client. A criminal defense lawyer determines if the case can be won on constitutional grounds due to illegal conduct by the government.
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.
An example of some initial steps that should have been accomplished in my criminal defense but were not accomplished by McGuire Law are:
1. States evidence was never obtained
a. Full and complete police report
b. All video surveillance pertaining to arrest and booking
2. Confirming with the States Attorney that I did not commit these crimes and was unwilling to discuss a deal.
Contrary to my request, McGuire Law provided the following which is the opposite of criminal defense representation:
1. McGuire Law was negotiating a deal for misdemeanor assault on a law enforcement officer without my knowledge or consent.
2. I was guided by McGuire Law not to take any steps that may upset the arresting officer.
3. McGuire Law instructed me that my research of public records on the current performance issues within the Pinellas County Sheriff’s office was illegal since I was a felon.
4. McGuire Law instructed me that I was a felon and was not permitted to travel without permission by the court. Obvious incorrect advice since the case was not settled.
5. I was told by McGuire Law that we would not provide the documents (exculpatory evidence) proving my innocence because Law Enforcement Officer’s never lie and this evidence should not be considered by the court. I was instructed that we should not upset the arresting officer.
Following is the evidentiary information that McGuire would not present to The State on my behalf as it may upset the arresting officer and was not pertinent to the case:
a. Phycologist anger assessment documenting my mature and stable emotional intelligence, especially when someone acts aggressively toward me. Pertinent as the sheriff assaulted me a few feet before the entrance of the booking room at the Pinellas County Sheriff’s station and I acted calmly. The result was bruising to my arms and a swollen wrist.
b. Photographs of swelling and bruising on my arms and wrist caused by sheriff.
c. Excellent credit score.
d. Property ownership of 2 properties in Pinellas County without mortgages.
e. Excellent work history over 30 years as a successful executive assistant and project manager.
f. Physician’s report of lower back lumbar degeneration causing instability in my gait.
g. The fact that I have no criminal record and have always been a productive member of society.
There was no probable cause for the arrest and citations which should have been brought to light by McGuire Law as my criminal defense attorney.
It was after 9 weeks when McGuire Law suggested presenting a letter to the States Attorney, stating that I did not mean to harm the officers and that I was going to counseling for my anger issues, I knew for certain the attorneys were not appropriately representing me in this case. At that time, I started researching and interviewing alternate criminal defense attorneys as it was obvious to me this attorney was diligently working against me in support of the arresting officer.
I hired new representation on February 13, 2018. In July 2018 I was found not guilty in a jury trial.
Attorney McGuire is held to the same standard as all US licensed attorneys. American Bar Association, Center for Professional Responsibility
PREAMBLE: A LAWYER'S RESPONSIBILITIES
[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 1.12 and 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 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 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 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 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 assure 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 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 Rules of Professional Conduct, when properly applied, serve to define that relationship.
SCOPE
[14] The Rules of Professional Conduct are rules of reason. They should be interpreted with reference to the purposes of legal representation and of the law itself. Some of the Rules are imperatives, cast in the terms "shall" or "shall not." These define proper conduct for purposes of professional discipline. Others, generally cast in the term "may," are permissive and define areas under the Rules in which the lawyer has discretion to exercise professional judgment. No disciplinary action should be taken when the lawyer chooses not to act or acts within the bounds of such discretion. Other Rules define the nature of relationships between the lawyer and others. The Rules are thus partly obligatory and disciplinary and partly constitutive and descriptive in that they define a lawyer's professional role. Many of the Comments use the term "should." Comments do not add obligations to the Rules but provide guidance for practicing in compliance with the Rules.
[15] The Rules presuppose a larger legal context shaping the lawyer's role. That context includes court rules and statutes relating to matters of licensure, laws defining specific obligations of lawyers and substantive and procedural law in general. The Comments are sometimes used to alert lawyers to their responsibilities under such other law.
[16] Compliance with the Rules, as with all law in an open society, depends primarily upon understanding and voluntary compliance, secondarily upon reinforcement by peer and public opinion and finally, when necessary, upon enforcement through disciplinary proceedings. The Rules do not, however, exhaust the moral and ethical considerations that should inform a lawyer, for no worthwhile human activity can be completely defined by legal rules. The Rules simply provide a framework for the ethical practice of law.
[17] Furthermore, for purposes of determining the lawyer's authority and responsibility, principles of substantive law external to these Rules determine whether a client-lawyer relationship exists. Most of the duties flowing from the client-lawyer relationship attach only after the client has requested the lawyer to render legal services and the lawyer has agreed to do so. But there are some duties, such as that of confidentiality under Rule 1.6, that attach when the lawyer agrees to consider whether a client-lawyer relationship shall be established. See Rule 1.18. Whether a client-lawyer relationship exists for any specific purpose can depend on the circumstances and may be a question of fact.
[18] Under various legal provisions, including constitutional, statutory and common law, the responsibilities of government lawyers may include authority concerning legal matters that ordinarily reposes in the client in private client-lawyer relationships. For example, a lawyer for a government agency may have authority on behalf of the government to decide upon settlement or whether to appeal from an adverse judgment. Such authority in various respects is generally vested in the attorney general and the state's attorney in state government, and their federal counterparts, and the same may be true of other government law officers. Also, lawyers under the supervision of these officers may be authorized to represent several government agencies in intragovernmental legal controversies in circumstances where a private lawyer could not represent multiple private clients. These Rules do not abrogate any such authority.
[19] Failure to comply with an obligation or prohibition imposed by a Rule is a basis for invoking the disciplinary process. The Rules presuppose that disciplinary assessment of a lawyer's conduct will be made on the basis of the facts and circumstances as they existed at the time of the conduct in question and in recognition of the fact that a lawyer often has to act upon uncertain or incomplete evidence of the situation. Moreover, the Rules presuppose that whether or not discipline should be imposed for a violation, and the severity of a sanction, depend on all the circumstances, such as the willfulness and seriousness of the violation, extenuating factors and whether there have been previous violations.
[20] Violation of a Rule should not itself give rise to a cause of action against a lawyer nor should it create any presumption in such a case that a legal duty has been breached. In addition, violation of a Rule does not necessarily warrant any other nondisciplinary remedy, such as disqualification of a lawyer in pending litigation. The Rules are designed to provide guidance to lawyers and to provide a structure for regulating conduct through disciplinary agencies. They are not designed to be a basis for civil liability. Furthermore, the purpose of the Rules can be subverted when they are invoked by opposing parties as procedural weapons. The fact that a Rule is a just basis for a lawyer's self-assessment, or for sanctioning a lawyer under the administration of a disciplinary authority, does not imply that an antagonist in a collateral proceeding or transaction has standing to seek enforcement of the Rule. Nevertheless, since the Rules do establish standards of conduct by lawyers, a lawyer's violation of a Rule may be evidence of breach of the applicable standard of conduct.
[21] The Comment accompanying each Rule explains and illustrates the meaning and purpose of the Rule. The Preamble and this note on Scope provide general orientation. The Comments are intended as guides to interpretation, but the text of each Rule is authoritative.
I filed this report to bring to light the unethical behavior of McGuire Law. I am hopeful that this report will save others the anguish that I was caused by this attorney. This attorney states they have done nothing wrong and at this point, refuses to refund the $10K retainer that I paid even though I did not receive any criminal defense representation service.
Kindly submitted.