When lawyers go beyond
WHEN someone gets in trouble, he needs a lawyer. When someone runs afoul of the law, he needs a lawyer.
Lawyers are duty-bound to provide counsel so people’s rights are protected. That’s what lawyers are for, to protect the legal rights of people. It’s fine up to that point. But what if lawyers go beyond their sworn duty to provide legal advice to their clients? What do I mean?
This is a layman’s question, a query from a non-lawyer who often wonders about the behavior of some lawyers.
Often, legal cases appear to be open-and-shut because it’s obvious that the client is guilty. And yet the lawyer finds ways to get his client off by hook or by crook. (Here a lawyer will surely argue that no case is obviously open and shut.)
It’s all right to use all possible means to get an acquittal for a client through above-board ways. It might even be all right to use all technicalities to save a client because that is within the provisions of the law.
But what happens when the lawyer uses underhanded tactics in order to get his or her client exonerated? What happens when lawyers bend the rules and use all dilatory tactics to prolong the case in the hope that the plaintiff(s) – the suers, as it were – die in the process, lose interest in the case, or run out of resources to pursue the case?
As a non-lawyer, I guess these tactics are all allowed under the rules of court. But what happens when the lawyer coaches the client to lie or to not tell all the truth or facts? I guess that’s the reason there’s a judge to rule on the case. It’s up to the judge to discern whether laws are being broken by the lawyers or the defendants.
But what if the lawyer knows that the accused is guilty and yet still insists that his client is innocent? (To avoid this, lawyers don’t ask their clients if they’re guilty.)
Let’s say, for a purely hypothetical example, that a lawyer has known his client for a long time who is now accused of illegally amassing large amounts of public money. Because of their long association, the lawyer has to know about his client’s alleged illegal activities. And yet, the lawyer insists that his client is innocent.
Or, for another purely hypothetical example, it’s obvious that a certain politician ordered the massacre of rival politicians, their families, and plain bystanders. And yet the lawyer still takes on the case of the alleged murderer or mastermind of the murder even though the accused’s guilt is obvious, at least to the layman.
As in the first hypothetical example, how do the lawyer’s colleagues in the legal profession begin to treat him or her? Is he or she ostracized by other practitioners? Or does his reputation even get enhanced because of his taking on a controversial case?
And for still another purely hypothetical example, a lawyer accepts to defend the widow and/or family of a hated high government official even though that official was known for being a despot. Is there any shame associated with defending the family of such a character?
These are just hypothetical questions from a non-lawyer. Is it live-andlet-live among lawyers? What about legal associations that have sanction or disciplinary powers over their member lawyers? Or does everybody just let matters take their own course and let the reputation or notoriety of their colleagues be enhanced or harmed in time?
Just a layman asking questions.
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Down with SkyCable. SkyCable in my area has been going on the blink lately. The last blackout, on Wednesday, Aug. 26 (the second in two weeks), was reported after lunch. The response from SkyCable was that the problem couldn’t be fixed until the next day because their repair units had gone home. Aren’t service crews on call 24/7?
Wonder if the service is better at the other cable providers? Maybe so, because for one reason or another, customers move from Sky to the other cable companies. And why not, you shouldn’t be loyal to a company that’s unreliable.
Update: It was already the evening of Thursday, Aug. 27, and SkyCable hadn’t fixed the outage. And since their troubleshooters don’t work evenings, the problem will surely spill over into Friday. Bad service.