A justice at the Court of Appeal, Justice Samuel Obeng Diawuo is imploring lawyers not to get caught up in the craze of social and traditional media advertising.
Rules governing the professional conduct and etiquette of lawyers in Ghana forbid the direct and indirect advertising of services. In some instances, the General Legal Council has sanctioned lawyers advertising in the media.
Some persons in the profession have described this code as outmoded. But Justice Obeng Diawuo says the rationale is to prevent the cheapening and debasing of the noble profession. He believes a good lawyer should be identified by the works and not the ability to advertise.
He was speaking at an induction ceremony of 140 students who passed the law entrance exam at the Ghana School of Law, Kumasi Campus.
“A lawyer must avoid advertisement and solicitation of work. That is very common now. These days on radio stations, you will find the host or hostess will call what they have become as legal luminaries. They clearly mention their names, chambers and telephone numbers. “That is clearly unethical. You must try to avoid it. Lawyers must not advertise because there is this proverb that says ‘good deeds must not advertise’. If you are good, let your works speak for you,” he advised.
Justice Diawuo urged the law students to strictly adhere to ethics of the legal profession and uphold the rule of law.
“ There are a lot of petitions against lawyers these days at the General Legal Council. Legal Ethics is not an event or a mere course taught once in the law school. It is a continuous and recurring process throughout the legal practice,” he said.
