Ethical Behavior in Legal System

Under the rubric of ethics, the legal profession itself is one of the most unique occupations in that it uses ethical concerns to define its entire contextual relationship. The modern legal system, which creates the roles of judge and jury, litigators and clients, and the idea that there is a certain moral or ethical responsibility to one's client, exists on the whole to promote and protect the society which established its role. "Thus, whatever may be said about the purposes of other professions, the purpose of the legal profession in bound up from the beginning of social morality."1

This paper will be concerned with one aspect of that social morality, and the question of what constitutes the ethical behavior in the legal profession that insists upon belief in a client's cause. In this sense, the paper will examine the role of the lawyer in defending a client that he or she knows is guilty of the crime under scrutiny. The case of Benjamin Francois Courvoisier will be used as the test situation for this inquiry, and the paper will begin with a background of the case itself. Following will be an examination of the role of a lawyer in the defense of a

1 David E. Schrader, Ethics and the Practice of Law, (Englewood Cliffs: PrenticeHall, 1988), vii.

guilty client. The paper will then analyze the issue of loyalty to a client, and the basic morality of law that insists that even the guilty should be given a proper defense.

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cided to talk the situation over with a judge who was not involved in the adjudication. This brings up the problem of confidentiality, and the attorney client privilege. In essence, the attorneyclient relationship exists for the benefit of the client and any remarks made in confidence are not to be revealed without the client's prior consent. "The confidential relationship rests on the notion that unless a man can talk freely with a lawyer, the layer cannot properly advise him as to his rights and duties, or properly ____________________ 4 Ibid., 1323. represent him in court."5 Courvoisier's lawyer was advised that he was morally bound to defend him, yet this brings up yet another dilemma. If a lawyer knows for a fact that his client is guilty, then how is the lawyer able to give a complete and enthusiastic defense? Or, is it more correct under the system of western justice, to put the guilt or innocence of the accused in a separate moral category that lets the rule of law hold the highest good rather that the pragmatism of guilt or innocence? Thus, in the modern legal sense, there is a dichotomous relationship between societal morality and legal duty. The legal duty binds the attorney to defend to the best of his or h

Category: Government - E