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Unser The Consumer Protection Act ( Read along with many Supreme Court decisions in the light of Article 141 Of The Constitution) it is held that a lawyer can only be sued when the “deficiency of service” in the professional conduct of the advocate is proved ‘beyond reasonable doubt’. On the other hand just by the virtue of having lost the case a client can not sue his/her lawyer otherwise. Section 35 of the COPRA( Consumer Protection Act 2019) reads as follows ,” Where on receipt of a complaint or otherwise a State Bar Council has reason to believe that any advocate on its roll has been guilty of professional or other misconduct, it shall refer the case for disposal to its disciplinary committee”.
So, if professional misconduct on the part of lawyer becomes apparent and it seems self explanatory( res ipsa loquitor) that the advocate has not performed his job exercising proper ‘care and skill’ then the above mentioned provision empower the clients to register a complaint with the State Bar Council against such misconduct. An enquiry can be set up against the lawyer based on the merits of the rhe application and the licence of the advocate may get suspended or cancelled as a consequence.
It is observed many a times that the lawyers do command an upper edge over the clients and in that light treat them quite rudely (despite procuring the fees in return of the service). The negotiating power of client is often reduced to zero based on the legal unawareness. Therefore we strongly recommend that this section 35 of the COPRA 2019 must always be kept in the mind by a layman. “Knowledge is Power ” said Robert Bacon and hence based on the power of this legal awareness he/she must put his/her contentions confidently while dealing with lawyers and advocates as the case may be.
