Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy Volume 14 Article 12 Issue 1 Symposium on Ethics February 2014 The Attorney-Client Relationship: A Jewish Law Perspective Steven H. Resnicoff Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndjlepp Recommended Citation Steven H. Resnicoff, The Attorney-Client Relationship: A Jewish Law Perspective, 14 Notre Dame J.L. Ethics & Pub. Pol'y 349 (2000). Available at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndjlepp/vol14/iss1/12 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy at NDLScholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy by an authorized administrator of NDLScholarship. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. THE ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP: A JEWISH LAW PERSPECTIVE STEVEN H. RESNICOFF* Professors Thomas L. Shaffer and Robert F. Cochran, Jr., describe four models for approaching moral choices in the attor- ney-client context.1 These paradigms portray the practitioner as (1) godfather, (2) hired gun, (3) guru, or (4) friend. They prin- cipally differ as to the extent to which the attorney, rather than the client, controls the relationship and the degree to which the interests of persons other than the 2 client are considered important. As godfather, the lawyer perceives the client's narrowly defined interests as paramount and does "whatever it takes," irre- spective of the impact on others, to promote such interests. The godfather attorney pursues this path without even consulting the client concerning ethical qualms. The hired gun approach simi- larly accepts the client's interests as the sole barometer of suc- cess.