Some things lawyers just can’t do. Lawyers can’t destroy documents, fabricate evidence, lie or fail to tell clients everything they need to know to make decisions about their cases, just to mention a few. But these are the easy prohibitions. Lawyers face myriad more subtle questions every day.
In my own work, what do I tell a client to whom I promised to finish a letter or a pleading last week and it still is not done? What do I tell the judge about why I neglected to inform opposing counsel of a third-party subpoena despite the requirement that I do so? I suspect that any practicing lawyer will tell you that his or her character and integrity are tested frequently, in situations where the stakes are low, in situations where the stakes are high, and in situations where a truthful and ethical response may cast the lawyer in a bad light before a court or a client.
