This article focuses on several familiar topics of legal ethics and how they apply to the inhouse lawyer. The California Rules of Professional Conduct are a critical framework for dictating how attorneys and paralegals behave.A lawyer shall, without undue delay, inform the State Bar, or a tribunal with jurisdiction to investigate or act upon such misconduct. This rule states that lawyers must report instances of credible evidence suggesting that another lawyer has engaged in certain misconduct. California's new Rule of Professional Conduct 8.3, which goes into effect August 1, 2023, establishes a duty to report the misconduct of other lawyers. To increase civility in the legal profession, the State Bar is proposing several amendments to the California Rules of. You must obey the Rules of Professional Conduct, the State Bar Act, and binding common law of California.