Role of Defense Attorneys

Court Administration

The role of a defense attorney in an adversarial system

A defense attorney assumes an integral position in the pursuit for and promotion of justice in an adversarial system. Defense attorneys are uniquely positioned via their legal system knowledge and interaction with the relevant principles in legal matters to influence the adversarial system in pursuit for justice. Sometimes, tensions exist between their duties to confidentiality towards clients and their duty to help the administration of justice. The defense attorney has a distinct set of responsibilities in the adversarial system. According to the U.S. Bar Association, it is the role of a defense attorney to defend the accused zealously and seek the best possible outcomes for the client (Neubauer & Fradella, 2011). In relation to this position, defense attorneys are committed to three goals: righting the balances of an unequal society, holding the government to the burden of proof, and advocating that the clients be considered in the perspective of their entire life than identified and condemned by their actions.

In an adversarial system, defense attorneys are called upon to represent unsavory and offensive characters. Their zealous advocacy works past the personal ties existing between the attorney and the client. Regardless of the offense committed by the accused, defense attorneys recognize that criminal activities do not stand-alone. Every individual's life is subject to a peculiar collection of forces. As such, it is an integral role for defense attorneys to understand and defend individuals. They tend to look at their clients' weaknesses, foibles and sorrows as a symbol of the wider issues of the society and believe that, like everyone else, these individuals deserve a zealous and competent defense. Defense attorneys who fail to represent their clients appropriately are likely to be sued for civil damages. The criminal justice would cease to exist if these attorneys chose to defend only the innocent. Defending individuals who commit crimes is integral to the adversarial system (Neubauer & Fradella, 2011).

"Law in action" we find flaws in the process, and if you had the power what would you do to make a correction?

The ongoing debates about the courts suggest that the criminal courts are not immune from flaws because their activities are intimately intertwined with community values, social institutions, public opinion, and actions of the criminal justice system. In various ways, the "law in action" is so rhetorical that it has failed to incorporate real people. It emphasizes that in a criminal courtroom, few cases are taken to trial. Most cases are dismissed even before the trial. Regardless of the conflict projected by the adversarial system, defense attorneys, judges, and prosecutors cooperate on various issues. They must act with discretion as a way of making the system fair (Falk, 2010).