Why are most lawyers liars?

Answer 1

It's not necessarily lying, but stretching the truth or omitting things.

It just comes with the job.

Answer 2

First, Define Most...

Secondly being that I am Legal Assistant at a Law Firm I have to come to understand the misconseption of the myth of the lying lawyer.

For the most part, professionally speaking, lawyers are very political and are concerned with client relations and their reputation with other counsel and judges. So after that said, they would not want to jeopardise that and lie for a client.

Also, you must think about the fact that lawyers reflect exactly what their clients tell them. So if the statements they are making are false, then that is a direct reflection of the information of the client. I am a first hand witness to these type of instances.

Now of course this is based on the larger percentage of lawyers...SOME of them may be dishonest, but that comes with ever field of the work force.

Answer 3

Most lawyers are not liars.
Lawyers are NOT allowed to lie to a judge nor a jury. That is grounds for disbarment.
If a lawyer knows that his client is guilty in a criminal matter, (e.g. through a private confession to that lawyer), he is not allowed to present a false/untrue alibi to the court.
But an accused defendant has a right to a fair trial. And the accused IS presumed innocent until guilty proven guilty. Otherwise what is the use and purpose of a trial
So, what can a lawyer do to defend that client.
He can cross examine the District Attorneys ('Crown Prosecuter" in Canada), witnesses, and he can point out inconsistencies and flaws in their testimony and in the State's, (Crown in Canada) case.
The lawyer might also, or alternatively raise a defence for his client. (such as self defence).
For example a wife shoots her husband to death but it can be shown that she suffered repeated very violent assaults from him, in the past, that resuted in serious injury, on many occasions. The lawyer may show that she shot him after he grabbed la arge butcher knife and threatened to kill her. Did she commit murder shooting him or was it an act of self defence? It takes a trial, a defendant's lawyer, and witnesses to bring out those facts.
A defendant, in a criminal trial, must be proved guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt". That standard of proof is a difficult standard to make out. And it should be, because the accused person faces loss of liberty, in a jail, if found guilty. It means, in practice that there can be no conviction, if the facts can be interpreted in a reasonable way that points to another cause of death or another potential killer
If the D.A. does not have a strong enough case, the defendant accused must be acquitted. It was the D.A's duty to present a strong case.
This result is not a happy one but it is better than wrongfully convicting an innocent person.
Incidentally, in the O.J. case, Mr. Simpson got off but he was found to be guilty in a subsequent civil trial. (where the standard of proof is much less strict, (= balance of probabilities, standard, which is the most reasonable interpretation given the proven facts).
Why do lawyers defend "guilty' people. For all the above reasons and at least one more. There have been cases where everyone thought the accused was guilty and the trial process has eventually found that they were all wrong.
In one famous case of negligent driving causing death, the accused "driver" was eventually discovered to be the passenger and his sister, who was killed in the accident, was found to be the actual negligent driver. (she died as well as someone ielse n the other car).
The crash was so violent that the brother and sister "changed places" in the impact and wreckage. The defendant /brother lost consciousness and developed amnesia. He really believed he was the negligent driver. It took a trial and independent witnesses to sort the mess out and save him from conviction and a jail term.
You might have surmised by now that I am a lawyer. But I am a U.S. and Canadian patent lawyer and registered patent agent.
I speak from 35 years of personal experience, when I state that in all those years I have only run into one crooked lawyer among thousands of honest lawyers.
Perhaps, some U.S. states' bars have lower standards, and some of their members are liers. But I am certain that they are not many.
Incidentally, that crooked lawyer I alluded to, was thrown out of the Ontario, Canada Bar.
From my personal experience, I can confidently say that most lawyers, I know and know of, are not liars and most lawyers are not crooked.
It does make me a little sad to be tarred with a wide brush labelling me and thousands of other legal professionals as liar, a theif, and unprincipled person. It is just not fair.
Despite that, have a great day and hopefully avoid being ensnared in litigation.
Dan the Answers-Man.

Answer 4

Not sure, the world may never know. Here's some jokes to help ease the pain.....


How can a pregnant woman tell that she's carrying a future lawyer?
She has an uncontrollable craving for baloney.

How can you tell when a lawyer is lying?
His lips are moving.

What's the difference between a lawyer and a liar?
The pronunciation.

Answer 5

im a paralegal who has worked for lawyers for most of my adult life, i can tell you that the job of a lawyer is an extremely stressful one full of big gambles, having to learn lots about a subject in a limited amount of time, requiring great skill in handling various personality types and minute attention to the skills necessary to persuade people to agree with your opinion

most lawyers are not liars at least professionally speaking, they realize that their credibility with other counsel, with a particular judge, with their clients and with a jury all require a modicum of honesty

in as far as manipulating facts and characterizing events in a certain way, well this is what they have been paid to do

the idea of our adversarial system of justice is to let all parties kind of spin the facts in their own ways and that the truth will arise after all the points have been brought up

now, is it perfect? no it isn't, many many times verdicts and outcomes of lawsuits are not fair and justice isn't done, but i'd say most of the time about 80% of the time, justice does prevail

and then you must consider that only about 6% of cases ever make it to trial because often a settlement that is agreeable is reached by lawyers

Answer 6

Good Question..
I think because the more the lawyer lies the more he is close to get hold of the case..Most of the most lawyers make their livings through Lieing...There would be very very very few who wouldnt but mostly yes...So the more the lawyer lies the more money he would get and the more he would win the case...
Thanks

Answer 7

While not entirely true, lawyers are frequently required to twist the facts, and represent them in a different light for their client to win. There's no scientific study saying that there are more lawyers who lie consistently, then, let's say meat packers or research scientists, but it's the myth that media and Hollywood happily exploits.

Answer 8

definite, legal experts are specialist liars. Their lies don't be counted on body language like a salesperson's lies yet somewhat on progression a rational and feasible protection of a pretend premise. in case you prepare as a felony specialist you'll study that truth is ephemeral and just about no longer conceivable to coach. You sound very idealistic and intensely youthful. in case you imagine you would make a competent felony specialist i'd say you may commence the academic. by ability of the time you bypass the bar exam the idealism would were tempered by ability of truth. And, if no longer, you ought to continuously sacrifice the tremendous money and bypass paintings for a non-earnings like the SPLC. they do no longer could lie.

Answer 9

I can't say that they are liars. It is their profession and they have every right to be good at it.

It is sometimes hard to accept of a profession that is making one's wrong, right. But that is the realities of life... we dont always get what we wanted in the most righteous manner... Lawyers need to earn to live.

Answer 10

Lawyers can't lie because they do not know the truth - they only know what their clients tell them. Their job is to speak for their clients in a court of law, to put forth a case on behalf of their clients and to present all the weaknesses in the case against their client.

Answer 11

MONEY MONEY MONEY. If defense lawyers always told the truth, who would hire them? MOST of the time, if you get arrested, its because you're guilty. You wouldn't want a lawyer to tell the truth if it meant you spending the next 100 years behind bars, would you?