The Job of a Lawyer

Recently, I have been playing this game on the Nintendo DS named "Ace Attorney Investigations"
Some of you may have heard of it, but it is actually a game in a series of "law games" which requires one to use logical deduction and reasoning, along with evidence, to solve a series of murder cases. I really enjoy playing this game, as it really requires one to think of all the possibilities, and most of the time, the murderer turns out to be someone you never thought possible. There are points in the game where one has to cross examine another character to get more information regarding the case. In these cross examinations, one must think hard and scrutinize the other character's testimony to find loopholes or contradictions with the evidence.

Just for your information, the person you see in the picture above is actually a prosecutor, although the title of the game is "Ace Attorney". Well, the reason is that the "Ace Attorney" series had always been producing games from the perspective of a defence lawyer, until the developers decided that they should create a game from the perspective of the main character's rival, which was a prosecutor. I am currently playing the version from that of a prosecutor.

But to the point now. One of the main themes in this game is about the role of lawyers, and it is a theme i find to be especially interesting, if not thought provoking.
One of the characters in the game is a "prodigy" prosecutor who had never lost a single case in 40 years. his mottos were always to have the "perfect" argument for everything and he always strived for perfection, just like his perfect 40 year record. However, he also believed that his duty as a prosecutor was to "convict all defendants at the stand". Is this really what it means to be a prosecutor? in the end, because of his desire for "perfection" and to "convict all defendants at the stand", he was found out to have been forging evidence for all his cases which he prosecuted.

In another case, the defence lawyer from the main series was faced with defending the murderer. The murderer in this case pleaded not guilty, and the defence lawyer had no choice but to take his case and fight for his innocence. However, in the end, believing that the role of the lawyer is to seek the truth, and fight for justice he turned against his client and announced that he was guilty of murder, eventually proving it with evidence and facts.

Another vital theme in the game is the truth, which is quite closely related to the earlier theme of the meaning of being a lawyer. In the game, there is an interesting entity named the Yatagarasu, whose motto was to "steal the truth" this entity often broke into places to steal incriminating evidence, then send it to the police. This was done so as to expose the crimes of the criminals.

So the question is, what exactly is the job of a lawyer? Is it to defend your client to the end, even though he is the actual culprit of the crime? Is it to make sure the defendant at the stand is punished by the law, even though there is this possibility that he might be innocent? In my opinion, a lawyer is one who fights for the truth, so that he finds the true culprit and brings him to justice. Imagine the number of innocent people convicted, should prosecutors only blindly prosecute the defendant in the trial, and imagine the number of criminals getting away scot-free, if attorneys blindly defend their clients. This certainly does not serve the purpose of lawyers, which is to make sure the correct justice is served. I believe that there are many lawyers in this society that defend or prosecute blindly just to increase their credibility or case winning records, so that they can earn more money. This is rather disturbing, as justice will not be upheld correctly under these lawyers.

So, if you want to be a lawyer in the future, reconsider. What is your incentive for wanting this job. Is it the sky high monthly pay that attracts you? Or is it the truth that you seek; that you wish to make sure justice is served to the person who deserves it?

MX