GOOD LAWYERS, GOOD LIARS?


February 24th, 2007 literally feels like a lifetime ago. But I still remember the day like it is just yesterday though. We walked in, stayed, prayed, spent some time, talked, thought about the road we'd be taking in time. We did say we'd become lawyers too. And probably work together too. Until he realized he wasn't cut out for it. Now, works in an insurance company. Why? Because he was made to believe that to be a good lawyer, one must have a fondness for lying.

There's an unfortunate misconception that what lawyers do for a living is lie, and that the best lawyers lie as easily as they breathe. How way too difficult it has become to convince my friends that the practice of law doesn't require a skill in prevarication!

People often accuse lawyers of lying because they're advocates, constantly working for the benefit of their clients. On some level, many people seem to expect that lawyers will be neutral agents who are trying to figure out "the truth" and bring a dispute to a "correct" resolution. But that simply isn't the job of a lawyer. That job belongs to a judge!

So what makes people believe that a lawyer wouldn't be caught dead telling the truth? Well, perhaps because the dictionary makes their pronunciation sound similar, so you can say the one and mean the other, when you pronounce: "lawyer" and "liar".

But unless one understands that lawyers have three principal obligations, this old wives' tale won't let go of them.

What are these three principal obligations? First, lawyers must keep their clients' confidences. Second, they must zealously advocate for their clients' interests. And third, they must conduct themselves as officers of the courts in which they are admitted to practice. This third obligation acts as a check against bad temptations that might be brought on by the first two obligations. Lawyers risk censure, suspension, or even being disbarred if they lie in court, suborn perjury, hide/manufacture evidence, etc. While there are always a few bad apples in any profession, most lawyers therefore do not lie. What lawyers actually do is use the facts and law to advocate for their clients' interests.

But someone did ask: "who would like to believe that lawyers don't lie if they don't tell their clients off - who they believe committed the offence for which they are seeking legal representation - and ensure they are convicted having realized that their clients truly committed the offence they are charged with"?

I think I understand the point of the question. The question is whether a criminal defense lawyer can put aside the horrible immorality of some of his clients' acts, and perform his constitutionally- mandated function of providing a vigorous defense under the law.

Defending a "criminal" in court should not to be understood as implying that a defence lawyer is simply saying: "hey, this man committed no offence". No judge is interested in that either. A lawyer's duty is to ensure that before an accused person goes to jail, the state ( or anyone that desires he goes to jail) must do that required of them: prove that the accused person committed the offence they are charged with.

After all is said and done, the primary function of a defense lawyer is to merely make sure that in seeking a criminal conviction, the government itself scrupulously follows the law. Nothing promotes disrespect for the law more effectively than for the government itself to disregard the law.

So, it does not matter what a client has done. The only thing that matters is that he is treated fairly, and that the government follows its own laws in seeking a criminal conviction.

- O.S. Emejulu
CC: Lalasticlala

Nice

cosby02:
Nice

Thanks

Thanks

Thanks

People who say Lawyers are liars, I shake ma head 4 em

Ebayray:
People who say Lawyers are liars, I shake ma head 4 em

...more heads need to be shaken for 'em.

LEGALAide:


...more heads need to be shaken for 'em.

Lolz...


M a 100lvl student of Law in uniben n I don't need any stupid person to spoil ma thinking of MA future profession

Ebayray:



Lolz...


M a 100lvl student of Law in uniben n I don't need any stupid person to spoil ma thinking of MA future profession

Nobody's gon spoil it for ya

LEGALAide:

Nobody's gon spoil it for ya

Amen oh....

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