Comments on: Like Clients? http://blog.bennettandbennett.com/2007/09/like-clients.html the tao of criminal-defense trial lawyering Sun, 16 Jun 2013 02:54:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Mark Bennett http://blog.bennettandbennett.com/2007/09/like-clients.html/comment-page-1#comment-449 Mark Bennett Tue, 25 Sep 2007 14:36:00 +0000 http://bennettandbennett.com/blog/?p=306#comment-449 Thank you for the comment. Your example is interesting — just as a real scholar attacks the merits of the arguments, a real lawyer defends the merits of the case. The problem, however, is that in a criminal practice it’s difficult to distinguish the merits of the case from the character of the accused.

]]> By: Anonymous http://blog.bennettandbennett.com/2007/09/like-clients.html/comment-page-1#comment-448 Anonymous Mon, 24 Sep 2007 19:28:00 +0000 http://bennettandbennett.com/blog/?p=306#comment-448 I agree with you, Mark. I am not a criminal defense lawyer, but as a layperson I can imagine defending people whom I do not like. Perhaps the people we do not like (e.g., those with exceedingly poor social skills) deserve a good defense most of all.

An example: I am an academician. I routinely read papers with which I strongly disagree, but I do not resort to ad hominem attacks. These are cheap shots. A real scholar attacks the merits of the arguments, not the character of the author making them.

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