Verified Document

Legal Ethics Practical Ethical Issues Essay

This can often result out of severe depression, making clients unresponsive and non-committal to any course of legal action. This requires the lawyer to determine at what point a client is simply exercising their basic human (and legally protected) freedom to defend themselves how they wish, and when they have crossed the line into being unable to defend themselves properly. An error in judgment here can cause a massive miscarriage in the lawyer's duties to the client, and/or a greatly diminished quality of justice in the particular instance. Providing a fully zealous defense might, in some very limited cases, not be in the client's best interests. There is one over-riding ethical concern in the practice of criminal defense that is most prevalent in the minds of the public and of new practitioners, and though the frequency of this worry diminishes over time it remains very real. This is, of course, providing a "not guilty" defense for a guilty client. The Rules of Professional Conduct allow for a lawyer to terminate his or her representation of a client only under certain specified instances spelled out in Rule 1.16, among which are:

(1) the client persists in a course of action involving the lawyer's services that the lawyer reasonably believes is criminal or fraudulent;

(2) the client has used the lawyer's services to perpetrate a crime or fraud;

(3) a client insists upon pursuing an objective that the lawyer considers repugnant or imprudent

It is, of course, well established that the known -- either proved or acknowledged -- guilt of a client is grounds for a lawyer to end representation. But the rule as written is far more complicated in situations where the lawyer does not know, but has a compelling assumption, that their client is guilty.

The "reasonable...

Generally, this belief must stem from some actual evidence beyond that which is provided in the case initially. Often, a lawyer is ethically compelled to present a "not guilty" defense at trial at a clients insistence even in the face of overwhelming evidence, the representation of the client being of paramount importance so long as the other responsibilities of the lawyer are not ignored. To that end, a lawyer in this instance must be careful not to suborn perjury or in any other way present or allow to be presented evidence or testimony that he or she "reasonably believes" to be false. Under the Rules of Professional Conduct, though, it cane be difficult for a lawyer to terminate representation. Evidence of a perpetrated crime or fraud that involved the lawyer's services as defined in the second allowance also fulfills the "reasonable belief" of the first, providing no help without evidence. There is some measure of freedom in the third allowance, but the lawyer must show a great deal of fortitude before a court will agree that a client's attempts to defend him or herself are "repugnant" or "imprudent" enough to warrant termination.
The Rules of Professional Conduct do not spell out the necessary actions for all instances of practicing law. Rather, they serve as a way to navigate the many ethical issues that can arise form practice, particularly in the profession of a criminal defense attorney. A careful study and application of these rules, along with a commitment to one's own ethical guideposts, ensures the maintenance of a fair and quality-driven justice system, and the zealous representation of every client.

Reference

Masschusetts Rules of Professional Conduct. Accessed 19 July 2009. http://www.mass.gov/obcbbo/rpcnet.htm

Sources used in this document:
Reference

Masschusetts Rules of Professional Conduct. Accessed 19 July 2009. http://www.mass.gov/obcbbo/rpcnet.htm
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Ethical Issues in Group Counseling
Words: 4046 Length: 12 Document Type: Research Paper

The more experience a facilitator has with a minority group, the greater the likelihood the facilitator will be able to help those members feel included, rather than excluded from the group process. This is critical, because inclusion is an important social phenomenon. "Communities who are strong and inclusive lead to better quality of life, stronger sense of identity and belonging, sharing mutual respect and equality. It is further recognised

Ethical Issues in Family and Marital Therapy
Words: 3218 Length: 10 Document Type: Research Paper

Ethical Issues in Family and Marital Therapy It has been mentioned that insufficiencies of the APA ethical standards for marriage and family therapy have not been appreciated fully. Guidelines that are in regards to the therapist accountability, confidentiality, and informed consent can really just sometimes turn out to be unclear with individual clients, nevertheless they are even more complex when multiple family associates are observed together when they are in therapy.

Ethical Issues in Nursing Scenario the Scenario
Words: 1254 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Ethical Issues in Nursing Scenario The scenario in this study involves a nurse who has intentionally disregarded the elderly patient's expressed wishes to receive pressure area care. The patient finds the procedure uncomfortable, embarrassing, and painful. The nurse continues to turn the patient in spite of the patient's wishes. This study will answer if the nurse is justified in turning the patient and if so, on what ethical grounds and if not

Ethical Issue in the Medical Field
Words: 1098 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Ethical Issue in the Medical Field Nurse practitioners at just about all levels and fields of practice encounter a variety of ethical problems throughout the span of their daily operations. In the preceding 30 years there has surfaced a remarkable global grant on nursing ethics providing complete philosophic evaluations involving the types of problems nurse practitioners encounter and also the procedures that may be best utilized for coping with them. The

Ethical Issues Arising From the Treatment of Anorexia
Words: 2301 Length: 7 Document Type: Term Paper

Ethics in Mental HealthCare (Anorexia) Eating disorders consist of a variety of symptoms with psychological, social, and physical characteristics. While the physical complications associated with these disorders may cause significant concern to the family members and the health care team, bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa are two of the common eating disorders having substantial long-term social and physical sequelae that make recovery difficult. The long-term disabilities associated with these eating disorders

Ethical Issues in Nursing Over the Last
Words: 1363 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Ethical Issues in Nursing Over the last ten years, the demand for long-term care services has been facing increasing amounts of pressure. Part of the reason for this is because of the large portion of the population that is becoming older (the Baby Boomers). As they have the potential to cause the overall amounts of demand to increase dramatically. Evidence of this can be seen with information compiled by the Government

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now