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In Defense Of The Devil's Advocate, Lonnie T. Brown Jr. Jun 2016

In Defense Of The Devil's Advocate, Lonnie T. Brown Jr.

Hofstra Law Review

Among the many controversial positions for which Monroe Freedman advocated during his illustrious career, the one that I find most surprising and uncharacteristic is his contention that lawyers who undertake morally questionable representations have a duty to explain or justify their choice of client. Specifically, in 1993 Professor Freedman penned a well-known column in the Legal Times — titled “Must You Be the Devil’s Advocate?” — in which he took Professor Michael Tigar to task for his representation of reputed Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk. Professor Freedman tacitly criticized Professor Tigar for his client choice and expressly called upon him …


In Defense Of The Devil’S Advocate, Lonnie T. Brown Jan 2016

In Defense Of The Devil’S Advocate, Lonnie T. Brown

Scholarly Works

mong the many controversial positions for which Monroe Freedman advocated during his illustrious career, the one that I find most surprising and uncharacteristic is his contention that lawyers who undertake morally questionable representations have a duty to explain or justify their choice of client. Specifically, in 1993 Professor Freedman penned a well-known column in the Legal Times — titled “Must You Be the Devil’s Advocate?” — in which he took Professor Michael Tigar to task for his representation of reputed Nazi war criminal John Demjanjuk. Professor Freedman tacitly criticized Professor Tigar for his client choice and expressly called upon him …


In Memory Of Monroe Freedman: The Hardest Question For A Prosecutor, Bennett L. Gershman Jan 2016

In Memory Of Monroe Freedman: The Hardest Question For A Prosecutor, Bennett L. Gershman

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

I’ve chosen to honor Monroe Freedman’s iconic essay on the hardest questions for a criminal defense attorney by posing the same question for prosecutors. What is the hardest question for a prosecutor? This in itself is a hard question. The thousands of federal, state, and local prosecutors in the country would likely give widely varying responses – discretionary charging, immunity grants, bargained pleas, unreliable witnesses, police testimony, and disclosure duties, for starters. Too, prosecutors are not a generic group. Just as some defense lawyers might recoil or be indifferent to Freedman’s provocative thesis, so might many prosecutors reject or be …


Institutional And Individual Justification In Legal Ethics: The Problem Of Client Selection, W. Bradley Wendel Apr 2006

Institutional And Individual Justification In Legal Ethics: The Problem Of Client Selection, W. Bradley Wendel

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Monroe Freedman is well known as a proponent of the "standard conception" of legal ethics - that is, that a lawyer cannot be criticized in moral terms for actions taken in a representative capacity. Surprisingly, however, Freedman has argued that client selection is a decision for which a lawyer may be required to provide a justification in ordinary moral terms. This apparent inconsistency reveals a conceptual distinction in normative ethical theory, which is often blurred, between justifying a practice (in this case, the legal system or some specialized practice such as criminal defense) and justifying an action falling within the …


Institutional And Individual Justification In Legal Ethics: The Problem Of Client Selection, W. Bradley Wendel Apr 2006

Institutional And Individual Justification In Legal Ethics: The Problem Of Client Selection, W. Bradley Wendel

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Civil Obedience, W. Bradley Wendel Mar 2004

Civil Obedience, W. Bradley Wendel

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Discussions of legal ethics generally assume that lawyers should deliberate straightforwardly on the basis of reasons to act or refrain from acting. This model of deliberation fails to account for the role of the law in resolving normative disagreement and coordinating social activity by people who do not share comprehensive ethical doctrines. The law represents a collective decision about what citizens ought to do, which replaces the reasons individuals would otherwise have to act. This Article contends that legal ethics ought to be understood as an aspect of this theory of the authority of law. On this account, lawyers have …


Truthfulness In Negotiation, Thomas F. Guernsey Jan 1982

Truthfulness In Negotiation, Thomas F. Guernsey

University of Richmond Law Review

A great deal has been written on truthfulness in trial advocacy. In his talks and writing, Monroe Freedman sparked the most current version of the debate, though the debate is much older. Given the age of this debate, it is surprising to find that there has been little discussion of truthfulness in the related area of negotiation. A survey of law review articles, cases and ethical opinions reveals little in the way of discussion or guidance. Indeed, books prepared on negotiation are quite limited in their consideration of the ethical issues involved.


A Critique Of Lawyers' Ethics In An Adversary System, William R. Meagher Jan 1976

A Critique Of Lawyers' Ethics In An Adversary System, William R. Meagher

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Monroe Freedman’s book is largely a reiteration of his unorthodox views, previously aired in various law reviews and other professional publications, regarding ethical standards that should govern the conduct of the trial advocate. Since his positions contradict the behavioral principles codified in two publications of the American Bar Association—the Code of Professional Responsibility and the Standards Relating to the Defense Function—the author adopts the apologetic strategy of impugning both the credibility and the viability of these precepts in order to justify his contrary stance and to clear the way for its general acceptance.


Lawyers' Ethics In An Adversary System, Robert H. Kennedy Jan 1976

Lawyers' Ethics In An Adversary System, Robert H. Kennedy

Florida State University Law Review

By Monroe H. Freedman., Indianapolis, Indiana: The Bobbs-Merrill Co., Inc. 1975. Pp. 267. $12.50.