Michael Kinsley: Why Lawyers Are Liars

They don't want to: It's their ethical obligation!
By Michael Kinsley
Posted Friday, Jan. 20, 2006, at 12:06 AM ET

As a loyal member—well, as a member—of the District of Columbia Bar for more than a quarter of a century, I was aware of the tension between advocacy and honesty. But until the recent controversies over Supreme Court nominees, I was unaware of the scope and depth of my professional obligation to avoid telling the truth. Sometimes this merely means evasion, but often it encourages or even requires outright lying. In other lines of work—journalism, for example—the truth is a standard that is not always met. But judging from the arguments made successfully for John Roberts and Samuel Alito, and unsuccessfully for Harriet Miers, the truth is something a good lawyer must constantly struggle to overcome.