PT116.S4.P1.Q7

PrepTest 116 - Section 4 - Passage 1 - Question 7

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P1

Is it necessary for defense lawyers to believe that the clients they defend are innocent of the charges against them. ███

Question · Must defense lawyers believe in their clients’ innocence?
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Legal Scholars · No
Lawyer's only job is to provide the best defense possible. It's not their job to judge their clients. Their job is to advocate for their clients.
P2

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Critique (of Legal Scholars) · Lawyers have other obligations as well
Lawyers are officers of the court and hence have obligations (e.g., not lying) to the court.
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Critique Continued · If a lawyer knows their client is guilty, then they should not deny this
They should not attempt to prove their innocence. Instead, make the best case for the client and argue for leniency.
P3

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Critique Continued · Lawyer's obligation to the court and society ultimately benefits the defendant too
The defendant deserves a lawyer who truly believes in their innocence. Lawyers can simply refuse cases where they don't believe in their clients' innocence.
Passage Style
Critique or debate
Show answer
7.

The primary purpose of the ███████ ██ ██

a

show that ethical ████████ ██ ███ █████ ██████████ ███ ██████████ ███ ███████ ████████ ████

The author has a specific opinion about what lawyers are obligated to do; the purpose is to deliver that opinion. The purpose is not just to raise complications. The author is exploring a specific complication — what if a lawyer doesn’t think the client is innocent? — and telling lawyers what they should do.

8%
b

argue that the ███████ ████████ ████ ██ ███ █████ ███ ███████ ███████████ █████████ █████ ██████████████ ███ ███ ██████

This captures the author’s opinion. It may not be the exact thing we anticipated, but it’s the only answer that accurately captures at least part of what the author argued.

84%
c

explain why the ██████ █████ ██ █████████ ██ █ █████████ ██ ███ ██ █████████ █████ ██ ████ ███████ █████████

The author argues that guilt/innocence should be something taken into account. The purpose of the passage isn’t merely to say that this currently isn’t important to many lawyers.

1%
d

discuss some of ███ ██████ ████ █ ███████ ██████ ████ ███████ █████ ██ █████████ █ ████

The overall purpose isn’t to discuss issues a lawyer must resolve before accepting a client. Although the author does mention that lawyers shouldn’t accept every client that wants representation, that’s simply a minor point mentioned as part of one of the things a lawyer is obligated to do. The overall purpose relates to the lawyer’s broader obligations, not simply the idea of being selective about one’s clients.

6%
e

reveal how the ████████ ██ ███ ███████████ ███ ██████ ███ ██████████ ██ ██████████ █████████

The author never made the point that law strengthens democratic societies. In any case, (E) is much broader than any point the author was focused on arguing. The purpose relates to a lawyer’s obligations. It doesn’t relate to law’s relationship to democratic societies.

0%

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