Self-study
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?
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
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.
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
███ ████████ ██████████ ██ ███ █████ ███ ██ ███████ ████ ██████████ ████████ ███ ██████████ ███████ ███ █████ ████████ ███ ████ █████ ██ ████████ ██ ██ ████████ ████ █████ █ ███████ ████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ █████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██ ███ █████ ███ ████ ████ █████ ██████ ██ ████████ ██ █ ███████ ████ ███ ████ ████ ███████ ███████ ██████ ████ █████ ████ ████ ███ ████████ ███████ ██████ ███ ██ ████ ███████████ ███ █ █████████ ███ ███████ █████████ ███ ███ ██████ ██ ███ █████████ █████ ███ █████ ██ ███ █████
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
1.
Which one of the following ████ ██████████ █████████ ███ ████ ████ ██ ███ ████████
Question Type
Main point
In a Critique or Debate passage, if the author advocates for a view, the MP is the author’s view. The author argues that a lawyer’s opinion about their client’s guilt or innocence is something that does matter. A lawyer shouldn’t just ignore their own opinion about guilt or innocence.
a
Some legal scholars ██████ █ ███████ ████████████ ████ ████ ███████ ████████ ████ ██████████ ██ █████ ███████ ██ ██ ███████ ███ ████ ████████ █████ ██ ██ ███ ███████ ███ ██ █████████ █████ ██ ██████████
This doesn’t capture the author’s opinion. (A) describes only the fact that legal scholars hold a certain view. But the main point should capture the fact that the author advocates an opposing view.
b
Defense lawyers should ███ █████ ████████ █████████ █████ █████ ████████ █████ ████ ███████████ ███ ████ ██ ███████ ████ ████████████ █ ███████
Anti-supported. This is the opposite of the author’s opinion.
c
In a democracy, ███ ███████ ███████ ██ ██████ ████ █ █████ ██ ██ ████████ ███ ████ █████ ███ ██████ █████████ █████ ██████████ ███ ████████ █████ ██ ███ █████████ ██ ████████ ████████
This doesn’t capture the author’s opinion about a lawyer’s obligations when defending a client.
d
Lawyers should be ███████ ██ █████ ████ ██ ███████ ██ ████ ██ ██ █████ ███████ ███ ████ ███ ████████ ██ ██ ████████ ███ ████ ██ ██████ █ ██████ ██ ███ █████ ██ ███ █████
This is the best answer, because it’s the only one that capture’s the author’s opinion about lawyers’ obligations to their clients. Although it’s not exactly what we anticipated, it’s still the best answer.
e
Defense attorneys are █████████ ██ ██████ ███████ ███ ███████ █████ ████████████ █████████ ██████████ ████ ███ ████████ ██ ██████████ █████████ ██ ███ ████████ ██████████
Anti-supported. The author actually says lawyers should be selective; they are not obligated to defend every client who requests services.