1 - Constitutional Lawyers as Problem Solvers

Summary

Lawyers are problem solvers. The problem may already have occurred (the promised delivery of widgets never arrived) or lie in a future that someone wants to address (what shall we do if the widgets get lost in transit?). The goal in mind as the lawyer looks for a solution to the problem varies across areas of law and the differing roles lawyers play. Contract law facilitates social and economic cooperation and addresses breakdowns in agreements (someone is going to be out of pocket if those widgets never show up). In contrast, the systemic purposes of criminal law are punishment and deterrence (it’s socially useful to dissuade a would-be thief from stealing the widgets). Within limits the law creates, the criminal defendant’s attorney and the prosecutor have diametrically opposed goals, while the judge’s purpose is to ensure the lawfulness and, again within limits dictated by the law, the justice of the proceedings.