Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-11-09
LAWYER,s MORALS.
LEGAL Gentlemen should Not Lie Nor
sell Their Brains 10 Defend Injustice.

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/. A lawyer ought 20 be a gentleman.
his function as an attorney gives him no
dispsnsatiOn 10 disregard the ordinary
rules Of good manners, and the ordinary
principles Of decency and honor. He has
no right 10 SANDER his neighbOr. even If
mis- neighbOr be the defendant in a cause
in which he appears for the plaintiff. He
has no right 10 bully or brOwbeat a wit
ness in cTOss-examlnatiOn. or artfully to
entrap that witness into giving false tes-
timOny. Whatever the privilege Of the
court may Be, the lawyer who is guilty of
such practices in court IS no gentleman
out CT court.
,. A lawyer ought not TO lie. He may
defend a criminal whom be knows to be
gnilty, but he may not say 70 the jury
that lie believes this criminal 10 be innO-
cent. He may not in any way intention
ally convey TO the jury the impression
that he believes the man TO be innocent.
He may not, in his plea, perYert or dis
tort the evidence so as 70 weaken the
force or conceal the meaning Of il. He is
a sworn officer Of the cOlrt. and his oath
should bind him TO the strIctest Yeracity.
II would be quixOtic to expect him TO as
sist his adversary, but his obligation to
sneak the truth OutranES every obligation
that he owes to his client. 1t is notorious
that: some lawyers wh9 would think it
scandalOus to tell falsehOOd out OfcOurt
in any business transaction lie shameless
II in court in behalf of their client, and
seem to think il part of their professional
duty. That bar of justice before which
By their professional obligations they are
bound to the most stringent tFuthfulness
is the very place where they seem TO con-
slider themselves absolved from the COM
mon law Of yeracity. So long as the legal
mind is infected with. shis deadly heresy
we need not wonder that our courts of
justice often become the instruments Of
unrighteousness.
). a lawyer ought not 70 sell his ser
vices for the promotion of injustice and
knave-y. Swind!e7s of all types are aided
by lawyers in their depredauOns upon
society. The mock broker, who operates
in Wall street, and strips green country
spectators of their hard-earned gains by
the most nefari0us r0guery, always has
an able lawyer as his accomplish. The
gentleman by whose agency a nest Of
these rascals was lately broken up. says :.
''The great difficulty in stopping swindies
Of this class is that the rascals make
enough money to be able to employ the
best of legal advice, and are, moreover,
careful to do nothing which will render
them liable to arrest" This is the testi-
mOny of lawyer, Mr.. Ralph Oakley, OF
New York. ''The best OF legal advice
can be had. then, in New York city for
such purposes. 1t would be more difficult
to believe this if its truth were not so often
illustrated in the stupendous frauds and
piracies OF great corporations, all Of which
are carefully engineered by eminent
lawyers. Our modern ''buccaneers''-
our brave railroad wreckers-are in con-
slant consultation with distinguished
lawyers. They unden1ably have sthe best
Of legal advice in planning and execut-
ing their bold iniquities.