Professional Ethics: Lies & Lawyers

In a provocative lecture last January, George Washington University Law Professor Monroe Freedman posed three ethical riddles for 45 lawyers preparing for criminal practice in Washington, D.C. Asked Freedman:

> "Is it proper to cross-examine for the purpose of discrediting the reliability or the credibility of an adverse witness whom you know to be telling the truth?"

>"Is it proper to put on the stand a witness who you know will commit perjury?"

>-"Is it proper to give your client legal advice when you have reason to believe that the knowledge will tempt him to commit perjury?"

The answer to all the...