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The Truth, the Whole Truth, Etc.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Steven Lubet, professor of law at Northwestern University and the author of The Importance of Being Honest: How Lying, Secrecy, and Hypocrisy Collide with Truth in Law (New York University Press, 2007), explores the relationship between truth and the law.


Comments

  • [1] Katie from Forest Hills June 10, 2008 - 10:32AM

    Better to be honest and say what you need to say than to live life regreting that you never said what the honest truth was and what you wanted.

    Be honest and express yourself to get what you want in this life, people!


  • [2] michael winslow from INWOOD June 10, 2008 - 10:33AM

    Look at Bush he clearly lied to the American public about the danger of Sadam Hussein and the law won't hold him accountable.

    No one media or politicians will even say Bush lied.

    Rice and Cheney lied about the mushroom cloud.

    When will an American president be tried in the international court?

    what will it take?

    What more does an american president have to do?


  • [3] Katie from Forest Hills June 10, 2008 - 10:38AM

    Bush has got the smile and the wave perfected, he can smile and wave like a Miss Universe pageant winner.


  • [4] Peter from Brooklyn June 10, 2008 - 11:26AM

    Wait..a lawyer is telling us lawyers are honest...I think he should recuse himself.


  • [5] hjs from 11211 June 10, 2008 - 11:27AM

    but really what does honest mean. eye of the beholder stuff


  • [6] Katie from Forest Hills June 10, 2008 - 11:28AM

    Libertarians....

    Let's not go there..


  • [7] Ruth Walter from Westchester June 10, 2008 - 11:29AM

    What drives me crazy about our legal system is that the cost of defending yourself must be borne by the individual, whether or not the case has merit. In the UK, when you bring a lawsuit and lose, you must pay the defendant's legal costs.

    My husband and I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on legal fees defending our small business against litigation. Even though we won, we are much poorer for the experience.


  • [8] tom from nyc June 10, 2008 - 11:30AM

    My room-mate in Montreal spoke english with a strong Quebec accent. Lawyer sounds like "Lier". I used to love to hear her say, "I' studying to become a professional "li'er"


  • [9] MichaelB from UWS of Manhattan June 10, 2008 - 11:31AM

    Honest Lawyers? Horse droppings. Not to mention gross incompetence.

    Most -- or far too many -- individual practitioners dabble in many kinds of law, and are barely conversant in many areas.

    Would you allow an internist to perform neurosurgery on you? But any shyster with a shingle out front will do a real estate closing, wills & estates, matrimony, etc, and do a sloppy job in all. They just don't know enough and don't have enough experience to NOT miss so many important points, and their clients are just lucky when it doesn't come back to bite them on the rear end.


  • [10] Cale from Kinnelon, NJ June 10, 2008 - 11:34AM

    From what I have seen in malpractice litigation, the truth doesn't matter. I was involved in a case where the opposing lawyer stated that if my co-defendent's state sponsored mal-practice fund (Becuase his provider went bankrupt in NJ) paid out, I would get dropped from the case. And I did get dropped. No matter that the person suing me waited for 2 months before seeing the specialist that I recommended. The tax-payers lost and the lawyer got his money. That is what drives the system.


  • [11] Telegram Sam from Staten Island June 10, 2008 - 11:36AM

    Oh please. The one (and hopefully last) court case I was directly involved in featured an opposing lawyer who knowingly lied about me and my actions in court documents. In another case where I was a defense witness, the lawyer on our side coached me on how to testify. Not to lie directly, but to strengthen the helpful parts of my testimony and omit the unhelpful. Maybe it's not lying in pure legal sense, but yeah, I lied, with his coaching and blessing. All for a good cause, however, which I'm sure is how the lawyers see it. But let's not kid ourselves that lawyers don't "lie," as the word is used commonly.


  • [12] Paulo from Paterson, New Jersey June 10, 2008 - 11:37AM

    Well, if every lawyer presented a fair and balanced assessment of a situation, nothing would get done. No court cases would ever be decided. Each side has to essentially present their best case which means omitting details that might otherwise compromise their case. Omitting facts is essentially another form of lying, but it's necessary.


  • [13] Katie from Forest Hills June 10, 2008 - 11:37AM

    What happened with Scooter Libby again last year?


  • [14] nonameforlaw June 10, 2008 - 11:39AM

    this is a joke, in a recent survey 60% of law students admitted to cheating. Law students are overwhlemed with pressure to cheat, if they don't finish in the top 10% of their class so they have a shot at getting a job with big law, they are going to struggle for the rest of their life to pay off 120K or more of law school debt.


  • [15] Albert from Greenwich, CT June 10, 2008 - 11:41AM

    I just checked the mp3 from yesterday's show and the discussion regarding Cynthia Mckinney (forgive the spelling) was about why the racial issue was elevated above the sexisism that revolved abround her treatment in the mass media.


  • [16] Cale from Kinnelon, NJ June 10, 2008 - 11:52AM

    I hope WNYC forwards these comments to Mr. Lubet. Then he can get an HONEST view of what is out there. Truth is so very relative to lawyers and they benefit from the ambiguity.


  • [17] lk June 10, 2008 - 04:39PM

    Hmm, he reminds me of the below-mediocre professors I've unfortunately come across in school -- which make one ever more appreciative of the good ones.


  • [18] lk June 10, 2008 - 04:42PM

    Has this lawyer ever hired a lawyer?


  • [19] Jim from NY, NY June 11, 2008 - 08:33PM

    Thanks for this segment, Brian. It is great radio when you moderate with an alternative viewpoint.


This thread is closed.


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