[textbook]Traversing the Ethical Minefield Problems, Law, and Professional Responsibility by Susan R. Martyn (z-lib.org)(1) (1)

Lawyers as Translators
Most lawyers intuitively steer clear of extreme instrumental or directive behavior. They see
these roles as ends of a spectrum, and understand that they need to heed both fiduciary
duty and the limits or bounds of the law. Such a lawyer can be characterized as a
“translator,” “wise counselor,” “teacher,” “statesman,” or “friend.” These lawyers see their
professional role as an opportunity rather than a difficulty, create enough professional
distance to offer objective advice, and foster a relationship that enables the client to
articulate the goals and means of the representation. Lawyer-translators see clients as best
able to make decisions for themselves, but also recognize that clients need the expertise and
perspective of lawyers to fully consider both their own interests and the effect of their
decisions on others.
Philosophically, this model of the client-lawyer relationship acknowledges both a
deontological and a utilitarian view, but also can rely on a virtue or a relational ethic. 10
Lawyers as translators adopt a deontological viewpoint because they respect and see it as
their duty to promote the individual autonomy of each client. They also care about the
utilitarian legal and nonlegal consequences of a client representation, both for the client
and those whom the client might affect. Beyond professional duties and client rights, many
lawyer-translators also exhibit character traits such as empathy and compassion to discern
the client’s full scope of interests. In deciding how to proceed, this means that the lawyer
weighs heavily the significant obligation to favor the client’s interests, as articulated by the
client.
Commentators invoke the metaphor of the lawyer as translator to describe client-lawyer
relationships because these lawyers translate the client’s desires and moral values into legal
categories, and translate the law for the client. 11 The client brings a desire to accomplish an
objective, to which the lawyer must listen with care. The lawyer advocates for the client,
but also advocates to the client, teaching the client about competing moral values or public
policy choices the law has embodied to protect the interests of others. 12 To enable clients to
articulate their interests, these lawyers believe that they should work with clients in the
representation and pay attention to context, but neither dominate nor be dominated by a
client’s values.
Lawyers as translators recognize the law itself as more than formless process, but less
than categorical command. They understand that many legal norms are definitive and can
dictate some of the representation. At the same time, they appreciate the fact that
applicable legal norms might conflict and that law must be applied to individual
circumstances. 13 Overall, they view law as embedded with moral norms that address some
of the most significant issues in human existence. They understand and value the
contribution of these norms to the social welfare, but remain willing to challenge existing
majoritarian interests when those interests do not respect the individual rights of a client. In
short, these lawyers seek to act as translators of the moral norms of the law to their clients,
as well as translators of their client’s moral interests back to the legal system. 14
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