Abraham Lincoln had quite a reputation as a trial lawyer. He represented many clients, including big businesses and indigent persons in both civil and criminal matters.
He, like all lawyers, had to grapple with the question of whether he could represent someone he knew to be guilty. How do you defend a guilty person? Lincoln got to the point where he became somewhat picky about the types of cases he would take. He seemed to understand that his persuasive skills were so good that there was a better than even chance he could persuade a jury to find in the favor of his client, even if the facts and the law were against that person. He knew that he had a big responsibility toward society as a whole.
In his excellent book Lincoln’s Last Trial, author Dan Abrams writes:
… most often if [Lincoln] accepted the case, he believed he was representing an innocent person, and even in those times when he was not wholly convinced of his client’s role, he was determined to provide the best possible defense and let the law have its say. There was a story told about him that one afternoon, after having a conversation with a man who wanted to hire him, he said, “Well, you have a pretty good case in technical law, but a pretty bad one in equity and justice. You’ll have to get some other fellow to win this case for you. I couldn’t do it. All the time while standing talking to the jury, I’d be thinking, ‘Lincoln, you’re a liar,’ and I believe I should forget myself and say it out loud.”
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