Philosophy 324Case 9 Is a good lawyer considered good only if he maintains confidence with his clients and wins their cases? Or is there more to a good lawyer? I think there should be a lot more. Lawyers should be obligated to take the morally right action even if it means losing the case. This is what the concept of moral agent suggests. Considering this concept, we can no longer believe that a good lawyer is simply an effective legal defender. Rather, a good lawyer should be effective morally, in addition to representing his client's cause. It is for this reason that it cannot be concluded that a good lawyer is the one who just wins cases. A lawyer is not just a good legal defender. A lawyer must behave like a morally good person and practice desirable character traits. I believe the concept of moral agent is the ethical way to behave as a lawyer. I will defend my thesis by offering reasons for my position, including moral theories, objections to my position using moral theories, and responses to the objections raised. My first reason why the concept of a moral agent is ethical is that there is a point at which the concept of a moral agent is ethical. The moral agent will not care about winning the case because winning the case would result in unethical actions. This reason is supported by the deontology of moral theory. The moral agent treats others as ends in themselves and not as mere means to winning cases. For example, a defendant in a murder trial confesses to his lawyer that he is actually guilty of the crime. The moral agent would not allow this case to continue. The lawyer would report to the authorities that his client is guilty. If the lawyer had not reported the matter to the authorities and continued to represent his client, he would have treated the victim and his family as a simple means to win the case. Doing this would be unethical. Some might argue, using ethics, that in a circumstance where the lawyer reports his client after admitting to the murder, the lawyer is betraying his client's trust and treating his client as a means. A lawyer cannot swear to his client that everything, including unethical information, will remain confidential if he ends up reporting his client. No one would hire lawyers if they reported confidential information to the authorities.