\u201cBetrayed.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0Acting Attorney General Sally Yates said \u201cno\u201d to President Trump and refused to order the Department of Justice to defend the immigration\/refugee ban.\u00a0 This was decried as an act that \u201cbetrayed\u201d the Trump administration, stood as \u201ca further demonstration of how politicized our legal system has become[,]” and an instance of \u201cpeople refusing to enforce our laws\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
These attacks on this career prosecutor misunderstand a lawyer\u2019s fundamental duty and the specific role the Attorney General plays.<\/p>\n
Lawyers say \u201cno\u201d to clients all the time.\u00a0 We tell clients that a particular claim or defense can\u2019t be raised or that an argument won\u2019t be presented.\u00a0 Our duty is to the client within limits set by law.\u00a0 There is no principle that says a lawyer must (or may) do whatever the client wishes and defend any position no matter how unconstitutional or unlawful.<\/p>\n
Indeed, the Rules of Professional Conduct sometimes require us to tell the client \u201cno.\u201d We cannot lie or present false evidence to a court, and we are also forbidden from following a superior\u2019s orders when what the superior is demanding is clearly unethical.<\/p>\n
The misunderstanding of the lawyer\u2019s role is even more profound here because it is not necessarily the case that Donald Trump and his administration are the \u201cclient\u201d of the Attorney General.\u00a0 As one scholar wrote, \u201c[t]he relationship between the Attorney General and the President\u2026is to place the Constitution and the law above policy and politics.\u00a0 And as former Attorney General William Barr explained, even though the Attorney General is a counselor to the President and a subordinate in terms of how policy is set, \u201cthe Attorney General’s ultimate allegiance must be to the rule of law.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cBetrayed.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0Acting Attorney General Sally Yates said \u201cno\u201d to President Trump and refused to order the Department of Justice to defend the immigration\/refugee ban.\u00a0 This was decried as an act that \u201cbetrayed\u201d the Trump administration, stood as \u201ca further demonstration of how politicized our legal system has become[,]” and an instance of \u201cpeople refusing to enforce our laws\u2026.\u201d These attacks on this career prosecutor misunderstand a lawyer\u2019s fundamental duty and the specific role the Attorney General plays. Lawyers say \u201cno\u201d to clients all the time.\u00a0 We tell clients that a particular claim or defense can\u2019t be raised or that an argument won\u2019t be presented.\u00a0 Our duty is to the client within limits set by law.\u00a0 There is no principle that says a lawyer must (or may) do whatever the client wishes and defend any position no matter how unconstitutional or unlawful. Indeed, the Rules of Professional Conduct sometimes require us to tell the client \u201cno.\u201d We cannot lie or present false evidence to a court, and we are also forbidden from following a superior\u2019s orders …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[361],"audience":[],"coauthors":[34,40],"class_list":["post-1940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faculty-commentary","tag-professional-judgment"],"yoast_head":"\r\n