ABSTRACT
The legal industry has a long and storied history of recognizing the need for a set of common guidelines on a national level, but it has largely failed to implement rules that stand the test of time. The longest running guidelines were implemented by the ABA in 1908. The Canons of Professional Ethics (Canons) were the first national rules governing lawyer conduct, and they were the gold standard until 1969. At that point, the ABA acknowledged the flaws inherent in the Canons, which were “largely devoted to petty details of form and manners, omitted coverage of important areas of concern, lacked coherence, failed to give ethical guidance, and did not adequately lend themselves to practical sanctions for violations.” 3
