Recognizing Ethical Issues

Article Review

Summary

This article examines the most frequent ethical dilemmas that may occur for trial lawyers. Lawyers most often see people at their worst. Some examples of times with lawyers would be going through a divorce, having custody issues with your child(ren), or criminal cases. Sometimes these cases seem so important to lawyers that they may lose sight of their own ethical standards.

Some of the most frequent ethical dilemmas faced by trial lawyers are misrepresentations to the opposing party or tribunal, omissions to the opposing party or tribunal, intentional delay of legal proceedings, overly "sand-papered" witness, and limited scope representation.

Misrepresentation or omissions to the opposing party or tribunal is probably the most common and difficult ethical dilemma a trial lawyer must face. There are certain rules a lawyer must follow and they include never assisting a client in criminal or fraudulent conduct, never knowingly disclosing a material fact, and never making a false statement regarding a material fact. If a lawyer knows the client is testifying falsely it is their duty to correct it. If they cannot get their client to correct it on their own they should take the client aside and notify them of the consequences and to correct themselves on the stand. If the client is not willing to abide by the rules then the lawyer should withdraw from the case.

Intentional delay of legal proceedings is another ethical dilemma trial lawyers may face. Suppose a wife is receiving temporary spousal maintenance just until the next court date where a permanent ruling will take place in which she will receive no further spousal support. If the wife and her attorney do whatever they can to delay the next court date, that would be unethical. She would be collecting money only due to stalling. It is ok to delay court for legitimate reasons, but not for monetary gain.

Another unethical dilemma for trial lawyers is the overly "sand-papered" witness. It is ok for a lawyer to offer suggestions on what to talk about or a better way to say things in order to make things clearer. It is not ok for a lawyer to coach a witness or give them direct things to say. A witness's testimony must be their own and it must be the truth.

The last ethical issue discussed in this article was limited-scope representation. Limited-scope representation is allowed but only under the circumstance that it is actually possible. If a client has a simple cut and dry case that does not require much counsel it would work out fine. On the other hand, if it is a messy divorce for example, it would require much more information in order the lawyer to completely counsel the client. People try to get by with limited-scope representation mostly because of money issues hence the lesser cost.

Relation to Text

Honesty refers to truthfulness or trustworthiness. To be honest is to tell the truth to the best of your knowledge without hiding anything.