Genesis of Lawyer Ethics: Stages snd Features

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of the genesis of lawyer ethics, the stages of its formation and features in different historical eras. The purpose of the study is to identify the main stages in the formation of lawyer ethics, their features and their relationship with the development of society, state, bar and legal activity. The methodological complex of the study is based on dialectical, sociocultural, historical-philosophical, comparative and anthropological methods. The results of the study indicate that the genesis of lawyer ethics is due to social changes, the transformation of society and the state. Religious and secular morality are factors of influence on lawyer ethics. Gradually, the crystallization of lawyer's deontology  - the system of lawyer duties and requirements for it from the social environment - took place. The development of lawyer ethics went through several key stages, namely: ancient, medieval, renaissance, stage of modern times, educational, modern, contemporary stages of development. Each of them has a unique, socially conditioned content and functional orientation. The current stage of development of legal ethics is characterized by such features as globalization, technological changes in ethics, transparency and accountability of professional behavior of lawyers, updating of ethical codes, increasing requirements for gender equality and inclusiveness in communication with clients, and increasing international influence on national codes of legal ethics. In the conditions of digitization of life in modern society, lawyers face such problems as protecting client confidentiality in the digital environment, preserving legal secrecy due to the spread of communication with clients via email and social networks and chat rooms, which requires further improvement of legal ethics guidelines.