Lost in the din of self-congratulatory praise in "The New Rule Models," January, page 50, is the fact that nothing has really been changed by the latest round of "improvements" to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. Even if the ABA adopts all the recommendations of the Ethics 2000 commission and even if every state follows suit, consumers are still left in the dark.

The strongest ethics rules in the world are worthless if consumers don't know about them. Yet nowhere in the hundreds of pages of new rules is there any requirement that lawyers provide clients any information about their ethical responsibilities.

Lawyers should fully inform clients about their professional responsibilities both as a matter of ethical duty and as a sound business practice. At a minimum, clients should be told in advance what they will be charged, what is and is not acceptable attorney behavior, and where to turn if problems develop.

Requiring lawyers to include such basic consumer information in retainer agreements would do more to improve legal ethics and enhance lawyer accountability than any other action the ABA could take. Unfortunately, the commission summarily rejected this commonsense proposal.

Also, to be effective, the ethics rules should represent a per se standard of care for purposes of establishing liability in malpractice cases. But the vast majority of states have adopted disclaimers that protect lawyers from liability based on violations of the rules of professional responsibility, a situation the commission ignored.

Until the ABA gets serious about enforcing professional conduct rules and endorses these two basic reforms, little will change, including the widespread public distrust of the legal profession. In short, Ethics 2000 is an abject failure.