Reading Comprehension

PT116 · S4 · P1 · Q6 Defense Lawyers

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Reading Comprehension question.

Save & drill this skill — build targeted practice sets from questions like this one
Video walkthroughs — watch every question solved step by step
81 official LSATs — as questions, timed sections & full-length tests

Is it necessary for defense lawyers to believe that the clients they defend are innocent of the charges against them?

Topic

Do defense lawyers need to believe their clients are innocent? What ethical limits or responsibilities should guide their defense?

Framework

Challenge Position

Main Point

The passage challenges the view that defense lawyers should provide the best possible defense regardless of their client’s guilt, arguing instead that lawyers have a dual obligation: they should not present falsehoods to the court or defend clients they know to be guilty as if they were innocent. Instead, lawyers should strive for honest advocacy based on the facts and present extenuating circumstances where appropriate. (The key pivot and main point appears at the start of P2: )

P1: Standard View – Lawyers as Pure Advocates

Some legal scholars argue that a lawyer's only job is to offer the best possible defense, regardless of their personal belief about the client's guilt. According to this view, it's the court's job to determine guilt or innocence, and the lawyer’s role is to advocate for their client using any available facts and legal arguments, not to act on their own opinions.

P2: Author’s Critique – Lawyers Owe Courts (and Society) Honesty

The author pushes back, saying that this approach ignores another big responsibility lawyers have: serving the court and society, not just their clients. Lawyers shouldn’t make arguments they know are false, nor should they work to prove a known-guilty client is innocent. Instead, if a lawyer knows their client is guilty, they should focus on presenting extenuating circumstances and arguing for fair sentencing, not false acquittal. If the lawyer isn’t sure about guilt, but sincerely believes in the client’s innocence, they can argue innocence.

P3: How Honest Advocacy Ultimately Benefits All

Lawyers who fulfill their duties to court and society—by taking cases they truly believe in and advocating honestly—end up serving their clients best. The passage emphasizes that lawyers aren't supposed to accept every single case and simply parrot what a client wants, but should provide real advocacy based on the actual merits of the case.

It can be inferred from the passage that the author holds that a defense attorney who argues in court that a client is innocent

Correct
should sincerely believe that the
Why this is right
This is what we anticipated, based on the available author text about "claiming innocence". She gave this rule, in the middle of the 2nd paragraph. If convinced that → then don't argue that defendant is guilty client is innocent By contrapositive, A "defense attorney who argues in court that their client is innocent" should not be convinced the defendant is guilty. If you're not convinced the defendant is guilty, they you sincerely believe it's possible that the client may be innocent. This answer also echoes language at the end of the 2nd paragraph.
Skill tested: Author Opinion · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.
90% picked this
would be right to do
Contradicted
This contradicts the rule the author provided in the middle of the 2nd paragraph: Lawyers who are convinced that their clients are guilty should not undertake to demonstrate their innocence .... when lawyers know with certainty that a defendant is guilty, it is their duty not to deny this.
5% picked this
is assuming that role of
Contradicted
The final sentence of the passage is saying, Lawyers should not be mere mouthpieces for a defendant but instead advocates for the rights of the defendant given the facts of the case. In other words, if you were representing a client who was clearly guilty but wanted to plea not guilty, you would assume the role of the client's mouthpiece by saying, "Your Honor, my client is innocent! (not guilty)" But the author is saying you shouldn't declare innocence when you know the client is guilty. Your job is not to merely be their mouthpiece but to advocate for their best interests given the facts of the case (i.e. you need to talk them into pleading guilty so that they get a less severe punishment, because it works against their interests to plead not guilty, lose the case, and suffer the larger punishment).
3% picked this
has favored the obligation to
Too Strong
If we asked the author, "is a lawyer who claims their client is innocent favoring their obligation to the client over that to society?", the author would say, "That depends --- does the lawyer believe the client is guilty?" If the lawyer thinks the client is innocent, then the lawyer should be claiming that the client is innocent, so the author definitely wouldn't say in such cases that the lawyer is favoring client > society. That's enough reason to get rid of this answer, since it's saying that "in all cases when a lawyer claims her client is innocent, they are favoring the obligation to the client", which is definitely a massive overstatement. (Technically, though, when the lawyer thinks the client is guilty, the author says that being honest about that and being an advocate for the rights of the defendant given the incriminating facts of the case will ultimately benefit the defendant. So really in neither case would saying a client is innocent be favoring the obligation to the client.)
2% picked this
has typically not researched the
Too Strong
Too Strong: typically Out of Scope: not researched According to this answer, the author believes that more than 50% of the time that a lawyer claims their client is innocent, the lawyer hasn't researched the facts thoroughly. That's a strong idea! We don't have any support for the author believing such an unflattering generalization about lawyers who claim their clients are innocent.
0% picked this

Continue the review in LSAT Lab

Save this question, watch the video walkthrough, and drill similar questions in your LSAT Lab account.

Save and practice this skill

LSAT Lab

Turn this review into a targeted study plan.

Save this question, drill more like it, watch the video walkthrough, and track your progress in your LSAT Lab account.

Start practicing free