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Recommended: Deontological theories of ethics

Philosophy 324

Case 9

Is a good lawyer just considered good if they keep their confidences with their clients and win their cases? Or is their more to a good lawyer? I think there should be much more. Lawyers should be obligated to doing the morally right action even if it means losing the case. This is what the moral agent concept suggests. Considering this concept, we may no longer believe that a good lawyer is simply an effective legal advocate. Rather, a good attorney should be effective morally, as well as representing his client’s cause. It is because of this that one cannot conclude that a good attorney is one who just wins cases. A lawyer is not just a good legal advocate. An attorney must conduct himself in the behavior of a morally good person and practice desirable character traits.
I believe that the moral agent concept is the ethical way to conduct yourself as a lawyer. I will defend my thesis by offering reasons for my position, including moral theories, objections to my position using moral theories, and responses to the objections which are stated.
My first reason that the moral agent concept is ethical is there is a point when the moral agent will not worry about winning the case because to win the case would involve unethical actions. This reason is backed up by the moral theory deontology. The moral agent treats others as ends in themselves and not as mere means to winning cases. For example, a defendant in a murder trial confesses to his attorney that he is indeed guilty of the crime. The moral agent would not allow for this case to continue. The attorney would report to the authorities that his client is guilty. If the lawyer did not report this to the authorities and continued to represent his client, he would be treating the victim and the victim’s family as mere means to winning the case. Doing this would be unethical.
Someone might argue using deontology that in a circumstance where the lawyer reports his client after he admits to the murder, the lawyer is betraying his client’s trust and treating his client as means. A lawyer cannot swear to his client that everything, including unethical information, will remain confidential if he is going to end up telling on his client. Nobody would hire attorneys if they reported privileged information to the authorities.

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