The Christian Lawyer: An Oxymoron?

By: Deborah B. Palacio

“The main business of a lawyer is to take the romance, the mystery, the irony, the ambiguity
out of everything he touches.”
- United States Jurist Antonin Scalia1

The above-quoted title and the statement of the conservatist and textualist Justice Scalia
would stir the reader’s humor. Why? Simply because of the glaring impiety in the legal realm.
Lawyers, judges and law students know so well what this quotation means. But, is it really impossible
to live a life of uprightness and integrity (termed as Christian Lawyer in the context of Legal Ethics) as
a legal practitioner?

The Legal Origins

It was Cicero who stated that the study of the nature of law should form an introduction to
the consideration of positive law.2

Jurist Pascual said in his book on Legal Philosophy that the vexing problem of the relation
of law and morals has continued to excite the attention of jurisprudents and jurists alike.3 Now in
dealing with the dilemma, he suggested that law students ought to study the juristic theories and the
complexities of legal philosophy, realizing in the end that each juristic school is but a graft on the
same trunk, not all growing with the same vitality and at the same rate, to be sure, but combining
together to make the trunk – law – the essence of democracy.4

Briefly stated, each juristic school of thought maintains its own perspective of the problem
of the nature of law, to wit: (a) Historical school of jurisprudence advances that traditional legal
materials of a people cannot be ignored;5 (b) Teleological school puts forward that the law is
ordained for the fulfilment of righteousness, justice, fairness, and equity;6 (c) Positivist perspective
posits that the law is not a moral concept but should be approached through comparative analysis
and critical thinking;7 (d) Functional school considers the law on what it does in promoting the
interest of the society;8 (e) Modern Legal Realist Theory takes the law as something which the courts
lay down as rules of conduct;9 and (f) Policy Science Perspective considers law in relation to the
degree of success of a community in achieving certain socio-legal values.10

Each foregoing school of thought had a basis and contains foundational absolutes regardless if
the school advances relativism or a case-to-case approach. Meaning, the means to which the
1
Brian Smentowski, “Antonin Scalia: United States Jurist”. brittanica.com. October 9,2018. Accessed December
2018. Available from < https://www.britannica.com/biography/Antonin-Scalia>.
2
Cicero, De Legibus, Chapter X.
3
Crisolito Pascual, Introduction to Legal Philosophy (Premium Printing Press, 1989) Preface to the Seventh Edition.
4
Ibid, p. xxv.
5
Pound, The Theory of Judicial decisions (Harvard Law Review, 1923).
6
Paton, A Textbook in Jurisprudence (Oxford University Press London, 1918).
7
Pound, The Scope and Purpose of Sociological Jurisprudence. (Harvard Law Review, 1911).
8
Supra Note 3, p. 74.
9
Ibid.
10
Ibid.
problem of the nature of law is answered is based on the absolutes and ends sought to be achieved
by the schools, respectively – tradition and culture, human conscience, the letter of the law, societal
flourishing, the bench’s imagined infallibility, and human survival.

With these conflicting interests and sets of principles, shall we now agree that a good
Christian lawyer is unachievable, if not inexistent? Shall we concede that morality and uprightness
should take their back seat when what is at stake is the absolutes different peoples adhere to?

The Legal Profession

Now, in order for one to be considered a legal professional, one must be found in the
“practice of law”.11 In the book of Jurist Ruben Agpalo, the consolidated cases on legal ethics
defined the practice of law as a profession, to wit:12

“The practice of law is a profession, a form of public trust, the performance of

which is entrusted only to those who are qualified and who possess good moral character. If the
respect of the people in the honor and integrity of the legal profession is to be retained, both
lawyers and laymen must recognize and realize that the legal profession is not a trade, and
that the basic ideal of that profession is to render public service and secure justice for those who
seek its aid.” (emphasis mine)

More so, as enunciated by the High Court in the case of Soriano v. Dizon:13

“Law is a noble profession, and a privilege to practice it is bestowed only

upon individuals who are competent intellectually, academically and, equally important,
morally. Because they are vanguards of the law and the legal system, lawyers must at all times
conduct themselves, especially in their dealings with their clients and the public at large, with
honesty and integrity in a manner beyond reproach.” (emphasis mine)

The lawyer’s duty is four-fold: (a) Lawyer’s duties to society14; (b) Lawyer’s duties to the legal
profession15; (c) Lawyer’s duties to courts;16 and (d) Lawyer’s duties to clients17. These duties are
found in the Laws governing the bench and the bar which are the Rules of Court, Code of
Professional Responsibility, Canons of Professional Ethics, Canons of Judicial Ethics, Code of
Judicial Conduct, and other related laws and jurisprudence. Going through these thick codals, we
would find absolutes such as morality, honesty, fairness, dignity, good faith, loyalty, impartiality, diligence,
independence, justice, inter alia 18

11
Ulep v. Legal Clinic, Inc. 223 SCRA 378 (1998).
12
Ruben Agpalo, Legal and Judicial Ethics (Rex Printing Company,Inc, 2009) p. 12.
13
A.C. No. 792, January 25, 2006.
14
Samala v. Valencia, Adm, Case No. 5439, January 22, 2007.
15
Canon 29, Canons of Professional Ethics
16
Cobb-Perez v. Lantin, 24 SCRA 291 (1968).
17
Chapter IV, Code of Professional Responsibility.
18
Canons and Rules from Code of Professional Responsibility, Canons of Professional Ethics, Canons of Judicial
Ethics, Code of Judicial Conduct.
 We cannot turn a blind eye to the legal professions’ absolutes – ethical rules and principles19 –
supposed to be fleshed out and enliven by those who call themselves – Attorney. Whichever school
we embrace and whatever we wanted to be – a lawyer or another – we covet our own absolutes.

The Love of the Law-Maker and the Law

“For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us.”
-Isaiah 33:2220

Even if the term Christian Lawyer is used by Law Professors to portray an ideal and upright
legal professional, and thus, does not pertain to Christianity as a religion, the very fact that the term
Christian was used is already a positive connotation. A Christian is a person who follows the teachings
or manifesting the qualities or spirit of Jesus Christ, or in the context of Legal Ethics, it may well be
defined as a person possessing characteristics of Christianity.21

Now what does Christianity has to do with the legal profession and ethics? It has everything to
do with it. The exacting absolutes set forth in the laws on Legal and Judicial Ethics demands lawyers
to possess an effective and solid foundation of absolutes. Relating to Christianity, it is a belief system
upholding a Divine Transcendent being who bestowed to His creatures a faculty of knowing what is
good and bad, and what is right from wrong.22 Further, He provided a sacred text – the Holy Writ –
the sole Authority given by God to man whereby we may know Him, His plan of salvation, His
laws, and His will.23

Thus, the Christian lawyer’s absolutes constitute ‘His God and His God’s Words’ to guide him
in fulfilling his duties to the society, the bar, the bench, and his client. Ultimately, the Christian
lawyer acknowledges that in the end, his accountability is not limited to his four-fold duties, but to
His God who gave him the knowledge and wisdom he needed to attain the profession, and the
privilege to be a vanguard of justice – God’s deterrent of evils in a fallen world.

Redeeming Lawyers’ Gravitas

It is appalling that in a Harris Poll and Gallop Poll, lawyers’ prestige had plummeted at a
pace unmatched by that of other professions during a twenty-year period in the public assessments
of their honesty and ethical standards.24 It was concluded in several national law journals that
“resentment of lawyers is running at a fever pitch.”25

19
Supra Note 12, p. 1.
20
Isaiah 33:22, Holy Scriptures (KJV).
21
The Sage: Documentation. sequencepublishing.com. n.d. Accessed December 2018. Available from
<http://www.sequencepublishing.com/thesage.html>.
22
Genesis 3:6-7, Holy Scriptures (KJV).
23
Article 1, Chapter 1: Of the Holy Scriptures. arbca.com. n.d. Accessed December 2018. Available from <
http://www.arbca.com/1689-chapter1>.
24
Chris Klein, “Poll: Lawyers Not Liked”. regent.edu. n.d. Accessed December 2018. Available from <
https://www.regent.edu/acad/schlaw/student_life/studentorgs/lawreview/docs/issues/v11n1/11RegentULRev13
7.pdf>.
25
Randall Samborn, “Anti-Lawyer Attitude Up.” regent.edu. n.d. Accessed December 2018. Available from <
https://www.regent.edu/acad/schlaw/student_life/studentorgs/lawreview/docs/issues>.
 In an article in the Regent University Law Review, Professor Allegretti who practiced and
taught law for a decade testified that when he had been at seminary only a week, another student,
who had also been a lawyer, told him that she had quit practicing law because “a Christian can’t be a
lawyer.”26 An author in the same journal testified that one of his students reported that his pastor
“wasn’t sure that a Christian can be a lawyer” and many laymen have asked how a Christian can be a
lawyer and many businessmen have confessed that they “hate lawyers.”27

Past lapses may not be undone, but surely, the present generation of lawyers and aspirants
can revolutionize the status quo and vindicate ourselves for the common labours and strenuous
trainings we had been and are going through.

In Bertholf v. O’Reilly,28 the Court pronounced that the ablest and the purest of men have differed upon
the subject – the subject of absolutes. Nonetheless, with the expounded importance of the subject
matter which cannot be exhausted in a four-page article like this, the author would like to advance a
proper appeal to law students to choose absolutes which would bring him to a higher view of the legal
profession and, at the same time, to bear the burden placed upon our shoulders (lawyers and judges
alike) – to be an epitome of justice and equity.29

To end this article, the Book of Luke30 records an account where the Lord had an encounter
with a lawyer during his earthly ministry which is clearly instructive to us, to wit:

“And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall
I do to inherit eternal life? He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself. And he said unto
him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.” (emphasis mine)

26
Joseph Allegretti, The Lawyer’s Calling. (1996).
27
Michael P. Schutt, “What’s a Nice Christian Like You Doing in a Profession Like This?” regent.edu. 1998-1999.
Accessed December 2018. Available from < https://www.regent.edu/acad/schlaw/student_life>.
28
74 N,Y, 509, 30 Am. Dec. 328 (1836).
29
Rubin v. Aguirre, A.M. No. RTJ-11-2267. (January 19,2011).
30
Luke 11:25-28. Holy Scriptures (KJV).