Function

• Before a client's case can be heard by a judge or jury or before an adversary can be approached, there are a maze of procedures that must be followed. There are statutes and cases and common practices that one must know. A client places a lot of trust in his lawyer and pays her a lot of money. The client has a right to know his lawyer will be protecting her best interests. The Rules of Professional Conduct let the client know what he can expect from his lawyer and tell the lawyer what her obligations are to the client.
  
  

Attorney-Client Relationship

• Clients have a right to know that their lawyer is competent, that what they tell the lawyer is confidential, the exact amount of fees the lawyer will be charging and that the lawyer will not be favoring any other clients. The Rules of Professional Conduct detail all of the lawyer's obligations to his client.
  
  

Legal Advertising

• A client has so many lawyers from which to choose. When a lawyer advertises, the client has to know the lawyer is telling the truth. The RuIes of Professional Conduct set forth the advertising standards so the client can expect that his lawyer's performance will match the sales pitch.
  
  

Relationships between Lawyers

• Lawyers are required to advocate for their clients. In large firms, there is a chain of command. The Rules of Professional Conduct make sure the lawyer doesn't cross the line from advocacy to fiction when dealing with lawyers outside the firm and make sure that all lawyers in the chain of command properly serve the client and obey the rules.