3 answers
Aubrey
Student
Owensboro, Kentucky
1
Question
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How do attorneys balance the ethical duty to advocate for their clients with the moral complexities that arise when the law and justice don’t perfectly align ?
How do lawyers manage the tension between their duty to advocate for their clients and their own moral beliefs? Sometimes the law requires attorneys to defend positions or pursue outcomes that don’t fully align with what they personally feel is just or fair. My question is asking how lawyers navigate those moments of conflict while still upholding ethical and professional standards.
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3 answers
Michelle M.
Actress
3276
Answers
Updated
Michelle’s Answer
Hello, Aubrey !
You'll understand this better if you realize that Lawyers do not advocate the client's behavior or the crime they're accused of, lawyers present legal evidence and present information to the jury and judge according to the law. The only time I imagine a conflict for lawyers is if their client is not cooperative and doesn't provide accurate information to the lawyer. A professional lawyer realizes and works on the basis that anyone who has been taken into a courtroom is entitled to a trial, so the lawyer basically represents the client because lay people do not usually have this skill. Lawyers put their knowledge of the law to work and it doesn't mean they think the issue/crime is okay. Cases need to be presented a certain way and that's why lawyers represent people.
There are times in which an attorney will review a case and not take it because they know it is a weak case and not enough to help the person. It doesn't have to do with "morals", it has to do with the way the law is.
I gave advice about this yesterday for a similar post and advised that more than being concerned about compromising morals, which shouldn't happen, a person hoping to become a lawyer needs to see what their threshold is to withstand hearing and seeing things that are disturbing sometimes. It all depends on the kind of law one practices.
If you want to become a lawyer, you will learn everything about becoming one through Law School. It's rather systematic. You will learn the system - gather all relevant facts, including witness statements, documents, timelines, and any other pertinent information related to the case and conduct legal research to identify the applicable laws, regulations, and relevant legal precedents that may impact the case. You can retain your morals as you learn and apply this system and learn how to determine strength and weakness in your clients' and the opposing party's case.
I hope this helps and I wish you all the best in all you do !
You'll understand this better if you realize that Lawyers do not advocate the client's behavior or the crime they're accused of, lawyers present legal evidence and present information to the jury and judge according to the law. The only time I imagine a conflict for lawyers is if their client is not cooperative and doesn't provide accurate information to the lawyer. A professional lawyer realizes and works on the basis that anyone who has been taken into a courtroom is entitled to a trial, so the lawyer basically represents the client because lay people do not usually have this skill. Lawyers put their knowledge of the law to work and it doesn't mean they think the issue/crime is okay. Cases need to be presented a certain way and that's why lawyers represent people.
There are times in which an attorney will review a case and not take it because they know it is a weak case and not enough to help the person. It doesn't have to do with "morals", it has to do with the way the law is.
I gave advice about this yesterday for a similar post and advised that more than being concerned about compromising morals, which shouldn't happen, a person hoping to become a lawyer needs to see what their threshold is to withstand hearing and seeing things that are disturbing sometimes. It all depends on the kind of law one practices.
If you want to become a lawyer, you will learn everything about becoming one through Law School. It's rather systematic. You will learn the system - gather all relevant facts, including witness statements, documents, timelines, and any other pertinent information related to the case and conduct legal research to identify the applicable laws, regulations, and relevant legal precedents that may impact the case. You can retain your morals as you learn and apply this system and learn how to determine strength and weakness in your clients' and the opposing party's case.
I hope this helps and I wish you all the best in all you do !
DENNIS BREEN
Lawyer
224
Answers
Cary, North Carolina
Updated
DENNIS’s Answer
Hi Aubrey: Interesting question. In reality this does happen. There are only a few ways to handle it. First, refuse to take the case. If the person comes into your office and tells you something you think is terrible tell him or her - sorry I can not help you. Remember what they tell you is in confidence and you can not divulge it. Second, you can not put forth a lie. If a client is going to lie, you do not put them on the stand. You are ethically bound to put forth the truth. Third, if you think something ethically stinks ask to talk to the judge in confidence and explain things.
If something is so distressing to you - if it upsets your moral compass so much, move for a mistrial if you are on trial and tell the judge you cannot continue and you need an adjournment. Tell the client to get another lawyer.
There are ethics rules in every state for a reason. IF you abide by them things usually work out.
Many times a criminal comes in for help. The crime might be horrendous, however if he/she was not read their rights or a search was not propper your job is to fight for those rights - not the criminal. As one judge told my class - lawyers make cops be better cops by making them follow the rules. Sometimes these delemias wake you up at night. However, your job as a lawyer is to protect people's rights. It's the rights that are impportant - that makes us all better people.
Good luck!
If something is so distressing to you - if it upsets your moral compass so much, move for a mistrial if you are on trial and tell the judge you cannot continue and you need an adjournment. Tell the client to get another lawyer.
There are ethics rules in every state for a reason. IF you abide by them things usually work out.
Many times a criminal comes in for help. The crime might be horrendous, however if he/she was not read their rights or a search was not propper your job is to fight for those rights - not the criminal. As one judge told my class - lawyers make cops be better cops by making them follow the rules. Sometimes these delemias wake you up at night. However, your job as a lawyer is to protect people's rights. It's the rights that are impportant - that makes us all better people.
Good luck!
Jose Casas Prats
Account Operations Manager
14
Answers
Madrid, Community of Madrid, Spain
Updated
Jose’s Answer
Hi Aubrey,
Ethics presents a common challenge to all professions. The example of a lawyer is very illustrative, but conflicts of interest also exist in the business world between shareholders and managers, to give just one example.
Focusing on your concern, the tension between the duty to defend and one's own moral convictions can only be resolved through the impartiality required of every professional in the exercise of their profession.
The law doesn't demand results so much as diligence to guarantee the effectiveness of the right to defense. In the case of an innocent person falsely accused, the alignment between the duty to defend and one's own moral convictions becomes practically automatic, but a guilty person also deserves the benefit of the possible mitigating or exculpatory circumstances provided by the legislator for certain cases.
Defending a client requires, or should require, setting aside one's own moral and ethical convictions because universalizing our beliefs or standards would suffer from ethnocentrism and endanger justice itself.
Ethics presents a common challenge to all professions. The example of a lawyer is very illustrative, but conflicts of interest also exist in the business world between shareholders and managers, to give just one example.
Focusing on your concern, the tension between the duty to defend and one's own moral convictions can only be resolved through the impartiality required of every professional in the exercise of their profession.
The law doesn't demand results so much as diligence to guarantee the effectiveness of the right to defense. In the case of an innocent person falsely accused, the alignment between the duty to defend and one's own moral convictions becomes practically automatic, but a guilty person also deserves the benefit of the possible mitigating or exculpatory circumstances provided by the legislator for certain cases.
Defending a client requires, or should require, setting aside one's own moral and ethical convictions because universalizing our beliefs or standards would suffer from ethnocentrism and endanger justice itself.