Lawyer Distinguished From Other Professionals
(Wasserstrom)

"... there is a special feature of the role-differentiated behavior of a lawyer that distinguishes it from the comparable behavior of other professionals."

"... it is, so to speak, intrinsically good to try to cure disease, but in no comparable way is it intrinsically good to try to win every lawsuit or help every client realize his or her objective."

"... the lawyer's behavior is different in kind from the doctor's. The lawyer -- and especially the lawyer as advocate -- directly says and affirms things. The lawyer makes the case for the client. He or she tries to explain, persuade and convince others that the client's cause should prevail."

"The verbal, role-differentiated behavior of the lawyer qua advocate puts the lawyer's integrity into question in a way that distinguishes the lawyer from other professionals."


Richard Lee, rlee@uark.edu, last modified: 27 September 2010