St. John's Law Review Volume 78 Number 4 Volume 78, Fall 2004, Number 4 Article 1 Lessons From Thomas More's Dilemma of Conscience: Reconciling the Clash Between a Lawyer's Beliefs and Professional Expectations Blake D. Morant Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.stjohns.edu/lawreview This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at St. John's Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in St. John's Law Review by an authorized editor of St. John's Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. ARTICLES LESSONS FROM THOMAS MORE'S DILEMMA OF CONSCIENCE: RECONCILING THE CLASH BETWEEN A LAWYER'S BELIEFS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPECTATIONS BLAKE D. MORANTt TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODU CTION .................................................................................... 966 I. JURISPRUDENTIAL ROOTS OF THE CLASH BETWEEN PERSONAL BELIEFS AND PROFESSIONAL EXPECTATIONS ................................ 972 A. More's Beliefs as Natural Law Conceptualizations................ 975 B. Expectations of the Sovereign-Henry VIII's Proclamationsas PositiveLaw ............................................... 981 C. Contextualism-The Searchfor Accommodation or Compromise Between Conflicting Beliefs and Expectations ..................................................................... 985 D. More's Tacit Embrace of Contextualism................................. 990 II. THE RELEVANCE OF THOMAS MORE'S DILEMMA TO THE CONTEMPORARY PRACTICE OF LAW .............................................. 993 A. Adherence to Conviction Versus Accommodation of the Sovereign-A ContemporaryNarrative .................................. 994 t Professor of Law and Director of the Frances Lewis Law Center, Washington and Lee University School of Law. B.A. and J.D., University of Virginia. The inspiration for this Article was the invitation to deliver a lecture during the July 6, 2003 Saint Thomas More Commemorative Service at St.