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3 - Values, Ethics and Virtue in Lawyering

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 March 2023

Adrian Evans
Affiliation:
Monash University, Victoria
Richard Wu
Affiliation:
The University of Hong Kong
Shenjian Xu
Affiliation:
China University of Political Science and Law, Beijing
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Summary

Legal ethics challenges us to do the right thing when no one is looking. Beware the lawyer who tells you that something is ‘arguably legal’. Clinical legal education in your law school helps with the answer, because it places you in contact with real clients and teaches how to be a moral lawyer. But do we choose the right thing according to law only, or law and something else? Here, we use a detailed table to examine how Chinese relational ethics are strengthened by comparisons with Western duty-based and virtue ethics frameworks, in contexts including: understanding duty versus (v) knowing your values; education through law or through character development?; asking what should I do v who should I be, v to whom do I owe respect and obedience?; action v character v harmony; rightness v excellence v social cohesion; absolute duties v judgment in choosing virtues v the Confucian balance between all; general principles v particular circumstances v loyalty in pursuit of harmony; reason v emotion v respect in relationships; rule logic v caring perspectives v appropriate role relationships; and the contrasts between universal values, cultural relativity and the political community.

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The Good Chinese Lawyer
A Student Guide to Law and Ethics
, pp. 80 - 124
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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