Steven G. Lawrence

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General Statement of Ethics and Core Philosophy

If we are to work together as client and expert witness, we should make an effort to determine that we will not have major "business" or "personal" differences which would make our business relationship less than mutually successful and worthwhile. This information is provided to website visitors as a matter of openness, fairness and disclosure.

Truthfulness Years of experience in "the law" have taught us that truthfulness and trust are essential components to the proper functioning of the legal system and the expert witness/client relationship. Before the client retains us as an expert witness or consultant, the client should know that we have a strong conviction about truth. We will withdraw from a case where we believe the client wants to use the legal system to actively hide the truth. We believe the truth is always the better choice (even though the truth, in some circumstances, is sometimes very difficult to endure). When the expert is provided with "the whole truth and nothing but the truth", it will enable us to provide a more effective service as an expert witness. Clients should know that we also have a strong conviction about the confidentiality of information you provide to us. Unless disclosure is absolutely required under the law, confidential information provided by a client to this firm will remain with us in confidence. You should know, when acting as an expert, our relationship is not protected by attorney/client privilege. In cases where there is information which may be protected by a legal privilege, your attorney will decide what information should be disclosed to use. We believe, if our relationship cannot be predicated upon truth and trust with each other, then the relationship should not be undertaken.

Working Together As Expert and Client In our opinion, the expert should disclose sufficient basic personal information for the client to decide, from a purely subjective standpoint, if they believe that they can "work with" the lawyer/expert in the context of expert witness or litigation consultant services. Therefore, in addition to sharing our professional accomplishments as described in other sections of this website, we share below with potential clients certain information about our foundational personal beliefs.

Core Personal Values From a personal perspective, it may be beneficial for you to know that I have what some people would characterize as "old fashioned" values. I believe the early successes of our nation came, in major part, from both hard work and the sold moral values which formed the historic "moral fabric" or out society. The now well documented societal disintegration of the gamily unit, and the widespread lack of honesty, are, in my humble opinion, the result of a deteriorating national moral fabric and moral relativism. My core beliefs are simple: (i) God first; (ii) Service to country, second; (iii) Service to family, third; (iv) Service to job or career, fourth; and, (v) Service to self, last. I am a humble follower of Jesus Christ and I am ever thankful for His mercy and grace because my individual failings in the mandates of Scripture are many. One of my personal goals is to earnestly search the Bible for more teachings of truth which I can incorporate into mu character. Which I am willing to share my faith with anyone who is interested, I will not "force" my spiritual beliefs upon anyone or "preach at" people. I constantly aspire to be non-judgmental of others and I unconditionally respect the right of others to choose different beliefs. If you think that any of my beliefs will conflict with your ability to work with me, let us confidentially discuss your concerns frankly and honestly. I will respect your decision to either work with me or see another lawyer.

Texas Lawyers Creed: The Supreme Court of Texas has adopted and promulgated the Texas Lawyer's Creed. Although compliance with the Creed is voluntary, we have decided to adhere to its provisions when acting as either a lawyer or an expert witness. You may review the Creed by visiting:

http://www.texasbar.com/newsinfo/aboutstatebar/barrules/creed.asp.

If you have any questions regarding the Creed, we will be happy to discuss them with you.

Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct ("TDRPC"): We believe in adherence to the standards of professional conduct set forth in the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct ("TDRPC"). We apply these same rules of prefessional conduct to our expert witness services. We believe in adherence to these standards not only because the standards are binding upon lawyers, but because we believe these rules form a solid platform from which the lawyer or expert and client may build an excellent relationship. We would like to quote from the Official Comments of the TDRPC concerning what we believe are several key areas of the lawyer/client relationship. We apply the principles of the TDRPC to our expert witness practice by showing (expert) next to the term lawyer.

Competent and Diligent Representation: Having accepted employment, a lawyer (expert) should act with competence, commitment and dedication to the interest of the client and with zeal in advocacy upon the client's behalf. A lawyer (expert) should feel a moral or professional obligation to pursue a matter on behalf of a client with reasonable diligence and promptness despite opposition, obstruction or personal inconvenience to the lawyer (expert). A lawyer's (expert) workload should be controlled so that each matter may be handled with diligence and competence.

Scope of Representation: Both lawyer (expert) and client have authority and responsibility in the objectives and means of representation. The client has ultimate authority to determine the objectives to be served by legal representation (expert witness services), within the limits imposed by law, the lawyer's (expert) professional obligations, and the agreed scope of representation. Our practice is to establish, by conferencing together, client goals and objectives for the proposed expert witness or consulting services. We will also discuss a proposed budget.

Communication: The client should have sufficient information to participate intelligently in decisions concerning the objectives of the representation and the means by which they are to be pursued to the extent the client is willing and able to do so.

If you think any of the fuseness concepts ir core personal values will conflict with your ability to work with me, let us confidentially discuss your concerns frankly and honestly. I will respect your decision to either work with me or seek another expert.

The information you obtain at this site is not, nor is it intended to be, legal advice. You should consult an attorney for individual advice regarding your own situation.

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