Ave Maria Law School Dean to act as ABA Consultant to Liberty U. School of Law

http://www.liberty.edu/Academics/Law/index.cfm?PID=5054

 

I am honestly curious about how, exactly, a law school can be "religious" or "moral" in its JD program.

The JD prepares practitioners; that is its primary focus. Every JD student needs to master the same basic material and concepts; each learns how to represent the client in civil or criminal matters, eventually each must demonstrate his knowlege in the Bar exam in order to practice.

Also, each learns of the ethical duty not to refuse representation for reasons personal to oneself. In other words, if the State fails to prove that an accused child rapist is guilty, defense counsel is ethically OBLIGATED to argue for acquittal even if the defendant confessed to him!

THis is not to say that I don't think there's room to teach financial and intellectual honesty. I have seen some rather scary examples in my time at the Bar. But I don't see how religion or the Bible is relevant to a lawyer's practice. That is, I don't see how a Christian lawyer would act any differently in practice than an agnostic lawyer.

Indeed, I would hope that the effect of a Christian legal education would manifest itself in a greater devotion to the cause of the poor, but somehow I don't think that is the thrust of LU, nor has that been my experience. of religious attorneys and judges in 16 years of practice.

I can see that a religious system of thought could be very significant in a research or theory program, such as, say, a PhD in Jurisprudence and Social Policy.

Comments?

 

Worldviews

Nosborne,

I guess it comes down to worldviews.

I believe any law school must be moral. Dean Green discusses the whys and wherefores of the proposed curriculum, along with a great deal of other interesting thoughts, in his blog.

Really? I accept the fact that a lawyer may legally argue for acquittal, but is the lawyer obligated to do so. Surely this attorney could resign from the case.

 

No, actually, the attorney may not resign from a case simply because his client wants him to fight for acquittal no matter WHAT the evidence may be of guilt.

The reason for this rule is to make certain that there will be counsel for unpopular causes.

Also, most criminal defense counsel is APPOINTED. You can't resign without the permission of the Court, which is rarely forthcoming unless you can show that continuing the representation would result in a violation of professional ethics. Thing is, you can't TELL the Judge that your client says his guilty; that's a betrayal of client confidence that would certainly lead to professional discipline.

Even if you are able to convince the Judge that you have an ethical problem (in the sense of legal ethics; morals have nothing to do with it) the COurt can still order you to continue the representation.

No, one's legal duties are very different from one's social or religious duties.

 

Well stated Nosborne - it can present a real dilemma for some law students and attorneys. The attorney is an advocate for his client not for his own personal social or religious views.