They are taught in law school to LIE. They lie to themselves, the court, everyone because they are entitled to an appropriate defense. I have several friends who dropped out of law school or quit the profession because they could NOT live with themselves due to what was required of them to be effective counsel.
This is not true. In reality, law schools teach the polar opposite. We are taught to speak and seek the truth or risk disbarment. In my state, most law schools require students to complete a professional responsibility course where all you do is learn about ways to get disbarred and have your life ruined, and memorize the ethical rules governing the profession. Required course because we have to pass a nationally administered exam (prior to sitting for the bar exam, in certain states) on professional responsibility/ethics. Most, if not all of these rules focus on honesty and truthfulness.
The legal profession encompasses more than just criminal defense. Criminal law is just
one required course during the first year of law school, and you read cases and learn legal theory. There is absolutely no required course about how to be an effective criminal defense attorney. I'm sure if a student elects to take a trial advocacy course, they would reiterate the ethical rules applying to trial practice. Of course, all lawyers are bound by rules of ethical considerations regarding client confidentiality but it expressly excludes lying for a client to the court.
Model Rule 3.3 states:
(a) A lawyer shall not knowingly: (3) offer evidence that the lawyer knows to be false. If a lawyer, the lawyers client or a witness called by the lawyer offered material evidence and the lawyer comes to know of its falsity, the lawyer shall take reasonable remedial measures, including, if necessary, disclosure to the tribunal. A lawyer may refuse to offer evidence, other than the testimony of a defendant in a criminal matter, that the lawyer reasonably believes is false.
Comment [6] to R.P.C. 3.3: If a lawyer knows that the client intends to testify falsely or wants the lawyer to introduce false evidence, the lawyer should seek to persuade the client that the evidence should not be offered. If the persuasion is ineffective and the lawyer continues to represent the client,
the lawyer must refuse to offer the false testimony. If only a portion of a witnesss testimony will be false, the lawyer may call the witness to testify but may not elicit or otherwise permit the witness to present the testimony that the lawyer knows is false."
In short, the responsibility of an ethical lawyer, as an officer of the court and a key component of a system of justice, dedicated to a search for truth, is essentially the same whether the client announces an intention to bribe or threaten witnesses or jurors or to commit or procure perjury. No system of justice worthy of the name can tolerate a lesser standard.
http://weblaw.usc.edu/why/students/orgs/ilj/assets/docs/18-2 Asimow.pdf
