Philosophy and the Morality of Lawyers: Can a Good Lawyer Be a Good Person?

6 Pages Posted: 24 Nov 2019

See all articles by Arjun Pal

Arjun Pal

University of Toronto - Faculty of Law; O. P. Jindal Global University, Jindal Global Law School

Date Written: April 25, 2019

Abstract

In the essay I critically analyse the gist of the discussion on whether lawyers must act in accordance with the advice of philosophers and whether the tenets of their personal morality allow them to be a good person at the end of the day. Usually it is often seen that the general ideologies suggested by philosophers often turn out to be speed bumps in a lawyer’s professional career. Ideologies such as being accountable to third parties while at the same time looking out for their clients’ best interests is seldom possible in the real/professional world. At this junction, I look forward to delve further into this criticism in order to throw some light over what road is usually taken by the professional world in such circumstances. Apart from this, I also expect to look at the ethics followed by lawyers while representing their clients and whether the lawyers are ready to go far enough to violate certain aspects of the law in order to look after their clients’ interests. Lastly I look forward to analyse whether philosophers’ reprimanding of lawyers is usually tolerated or not and also whether lawyers place morality above their professional duty or vice versa.

Keywords: Law, Philosophy, Morality, Lawyers

Suggested Citation

Pal, Arjun, Philosophy and the Morality of Lawyers: Can a Good Lawyer Be a Good Person? (April 25, 2019). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3484918 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3484918

Arjun Pal (Contact Author)

University of Toronto - Faculty of Law ( email )

105 St George Street
Toronto, Ontario M5S 3G8
Canada
+91-8816816735 (Phone)

O. P. Jindal Global University, Jindal Global Law School ( email )

Sonipat Narela Road, Near Jagdishpur Village
Delhi NCR
Sonipat, DE Delhi NCR 131001
India

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