AUSTRALIA
The Conversation
Vivien Holmes
Senior Lecturer at Australian National University
When counsel assisting the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse put it to Cardinal George Pell last week that his lawyers weren’t his moral advisors, she was implying that he shouldn’t blame his lawyers for his pursuit of a morally bankrupt legal strategy. Pell was the client. He gave the instructions.
But lawyers can and should play an important role in helping a client step back and reflect. Lawyers owe clients a duty to act in the client’s best interests. This may necessarily involve helping the client ascertain what their best interests are.
It is the lawyer’s role (especially in litigation, where costs – psychological, financial and, in this case, “spiritual”, can be so high) to put options to the client and ask whether a “no holds barred” approach is in fact in the client’s best interests.
The Ellis case
John Ellis was a victim of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest. Michael Eccleston, the church’s investigator, thoroughly examined Ellis’ allegations of abuse. Eccleston accepted, and reported to the church, that serious abuse had occurred.
Despite this, in defending the claim Ellis made against the church, Pell adopted an “attack dog” strategy against Ellis. It appears from evidence given to the Royal Commission that Pell’s lawyers, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, advised this strategy and then prosecuted it with gusto.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.