Clients come to us all the time for “legal advice.” That’s what we’re here for—even if the client seeks our endorsement or imprimatur of conduct that may be against the ethical mores to which we (or even society) might subscribe. They might even want us to bless proposed conduct that borders on, or even strays across the border of, what is legal. The client might not know the technical value of a “reliance on the advice of counsel” defense—meaning that counsel, having approved the conduct (assuming he was told the relevant facts) might earn his client a defense that would negate criminal intent1—but still might want the emotional consolation that counsel basically gave his okay.
But there are times clients come to counsel for the wrong reasons—they “know” that their proposed course of conduct is illegal, and are hoping to use the lawyer to further it. Maybe they want the lawyer’s advice on how to best stash the weapon, or to bury the technological materials, or to revise the incriminating document. Perhaps they want the lawyer to help “paper” the proposed, but obviously fraudulent, transaction. Or they want the lawyer to be (way) out front as mouthpiece, or scribe a lawyer’s letter to “extort” some gain that will surely be ill-gotten.
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