Legal ethics is a misnomer ... lawyers conducting themselves legally are not necessarily conducting themselves morally ."...and ..."The zero sum nature of the legal system, combined with the universal adoption of zealotry as the marching orders of practioners and prosecutors, transforms the moral mission of the legal system from one of truth-seeking, storytelling, and justice, to one of fabrication, distortion, and manipulation in pursuit of victory. These victories, however, make us all losers.
Interpretation
Legal ethics don't equate to moral behavior, and the competitive nature of law can lead to distorted justice.
Thane Rosenbaum critiques the notion of legal ethics by highlighting that merely following the law does not guarantee moral conduct. He points out that the adversarial nature of the legal system, driven by a zeal for victory, can corrupt the pursuit of truth and justice, ultimately resulting in collective loss rather than societal gain.
In practice
During a lecture on legal ethics, this quote could be used to illustrate the moral complexities facing lawyers.
When government - in pursuit of good intentions - tries to rearrange the economy, legislate morality, or help special interests, the cost come in inefficiency, lack of motivation, and loss of freedom. Government should be a referee, not an active player.
Religions have always been clearly on to this psycho-therapeutic score. For hundreds of years in the West, Christian art had a very clear function: it was meant to direct us towards the good and wean us off vice.
Our government's got a war on drugs. That's certainly better than no drugs at all.
The time is fast approaching when to call a man a patriot will be the deepest insult you can offer him. Patriotism now means advocating plunder in the interest of the privileged classes of the particular State system into which we have happened to be born.
If I were a dictator, religion and state would be separate. I swear by my religion. I will die for it. But it is my personal affair. The state has nothing to do with it. The state would look after your secular welfare, health, communications, foreign relations, currency and so on, but not your or my religion. That is everybody's personal concern!
Wars and revolutions and battles are due simply and solely to the body and its desires.
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