A fairly large number of people seemed stunned by the prospect of a lawyer “taking a bullet” for his client—a case of cognitive dissonance with the shop-worn caricature of lawyers as amoral sharks. I have a different perspective. During my time on the bench and the years I spent in private practice, defending lawyers, I saw far more attorneys willing to compromise their own positions to advance those of their clients than examples of self-dealing at the client’s expense.
There are, of course, the examples of falling on one’s sword for the good of the client. Lawyers who blew statutes of limitations regularly filed certifications with the court, attesting to the merits of a client’s dismissed claim, virtually ensuring a malpractice suit against them. Defendants sentenced to long terms routinely file petitions for post-conviction relief in which they assert ineffective assistance of counsel claims. To prevail and have their convictions set aside, they must essentially show their attorneys were incompetent. Yet, public defenders almost consider it an article of faith to refrain from vigorously opposing such claims, however lacking in merit.
