The attorney-advocate rule is a rule of ethics in the legal profession that prohibits an attorney from acting both as an advocate and as a witness in the same proceeding. The rule “has long been a tenet of ethics in the American legal system, and traces its roots back to Roman Law.” Kennedy v. Eldridge, […]
Category: Legal Ethics
Advocate-Witness Rule
Under the advocate-witness rule (also referred to as the “lawyer-witness rule” and “attorney-witness rule“), an attorney should not represent a party to a case in which that attorney is likely to be called to testify as a witness at the time of trial. The reasoning behind the advocate-witness rule is that it helps to avoid […]