Students and lawyers alike have struggled with the enduring issues between the law and ethical responsibilities based on their own beliefs. Samuel Levine, professor of law at Pepperdine University, addressed Loyola students last Monday about this ongoing debate between the spirit of the law and the letter of the law with regards to the work of lawyers.
The general topic of the lecture questioned the fact of whether or not a lawyer's own personal set of morals is a valuable and a legitimate source of conviction in any one case. Should the spirit of the law, which is the underlying intent of our social responsibility, or the letter of the law, which is the literal interpretation or rule of law, dictate a lawyer's judgment and responsibility?
Professor Levine contrasted his own model of the spirit of the law and the letter of the law with that of William Simon, professor of law at Columbia University, who believes that law should in fact be greatly dictated by the spirit of the law and whole-heartedly focused on morality over justice. Professor Simon has created a framework that allows lawyers to address and incorporate the spirit of the law into the work of lawyers.
"Simon believes that the correct revolution of ethical dilemma requires not a triumph of moral over law, but instead these indications of more fundamental legal values over less fundamental legal values," notes Levine. This model will then focus more on justice over morality. Thus, Simon believes that the spirit of the law should govern the lawyer's conduct.
In response to Simon's belief, Professor Levine offered his own critique and alternative model. "[Simon's] model appears inconsistent with the data and intelligence of the lawyer's legal and ethical values. A lawyer functions as an agent and judiciary; thereby endowed with a duty of loyalties to the client, requiring a lawyer to pursue what is of the client's interest - not their own interests," says Levine.
Throughout the lecture, Levine provided several situations that highlighted the ethical issues of certain cases, one of which had to do with the question of whether or not a lawyer should plea the statute of limitations - or the set maximum period of time that legal proceedings based on past events may be initiated - can be used to legitimize the fact that a certain creditor waited too long to demand repayment from the debtor, thus helping the debtor.
"Although the lawyer may personally object the outcome, which would omit the defendant from paying an otherwise valid debt, it's the lawyer's duty to serve the client without the consideration of the lawyer's own personal preferences," says Levine. Furthermore, the neglect of serving the client can lead to malpractice and even professional discipline against the lawyer.
Levine again remarked on the differences between both of their distinct types of lawyering: "Lawyers must pursue any goal of the client to any arguable legal course of action. Yet Simon proposes an alternative, contextual view of lawyering. The lawyer should take such actions as considering the relevant circumstances of the client in order to promote justice." He then reminded the students of the broader role of the prosecutor: to serve justice.
In another case presented by Levine, the prosecutor decided not to share the fact that one of the complaining witnesses had died during the trial. With this exculpatory information, which is information that tends to negate the likelihood of being charged guilty for a crime, the outcome may have been different in this case. Does the prosecutor have a constitutional obligation to disclose this information? Levine notes that it's part of serving justice to bring this information to the defendant, but the letter of the law does not require for lawyers to bring forth exculpatory information; the prosecutor acted correctly - in terms of the letter of the law.
In response to whether or not morals should apply to the letter of the law, Senior Katelin Santhin believes, "You must choose a certain path, be it in the spirit or the letter of the law, based on the type of law or group of people you are dealing with. For example, a lawyer should apply morals if he or she is working for a specific advocate group. The lawyer can then protect the client while also broadening their idea of justice for both their client and the larger population."
"Simon dismisses the letter of the law too readily without applying adequate legal justification for applying the spirit of that law," says Levine. The spirit versus the letter of the law must be deciphered between different types of law - specifically ethical law and general law, says Levine.
Be the first to comment on this article!