Lawyers must “exercise independent professional judgment” when representing clients. The comments to TDRPC 2.01 do not specifically address “independent professional judgment,” but a review of some of the other rules sheds some light on the topic.
For example, comment 6 to TDRPC 1.06 shows that a lawyer’s independence is affected when serving one client adversely impacts his ability to serve another client. Another example comes from TDRPC 5.04(c), which admonishes lawyers who are paid by one person to represent another to not let the payor direct or regulate the lawyer’s service to the client. From these examples, we see that a lawyer exercises independent judgment when he or she communicates his or her professional opinions to his or her client unclouded by the adverse or conflicting influences of others.