“My lawyer won’t let me” and “My lawyer said I could” are rarely convincing justifications when uttered by Joe Client. They totally fail to ring true when coming from high government officials who have armies of lawyers employed for the primary purpose of providing excuses for political decisions.We don’t get into politics here at e&h, but we’ve been quite annoyed by the frequent suggestions lately by Defense Department Secretary Ronald Rumsfeld that government lawyers will be the ones deciding how Saddam Hussein will be treated. For example, when asked by Lesley Stahl on CBS’s “60 Minutes” on Sunday (12-14-03) whether the Red Cross would be allowed to see Saddam soon, Mr. Rumsfeld replied “Those are judgments that will be made by the lawyers as we go along.”
The client is the Boss — especially when the client is Big Government, and even more so when the issue is whether or not to perform or permit a discretionary action. Suggesting here that lawyers will decide on how Saddam is treated (other than by indicating to their client the minimal safeguards and standards of treatment that he must be allowed) makes lawyers and clients look bad. The Client is the Boss and the buck stops with the boss.
-e&h thanks-
to Ernie for noting the noteworthiness of this most humble weblog. What could be better than legal ethics and haiku? A daily dose of vitamin Ernie, of course.