"Ultimately he's just doing the job he was hired to do." "I was just following orders" never makes a good excuse for doing something that is patently wrong. I

"Ultimately he's just doing the job he was hired to do." "I was just following orders" never makes a good excuse for doing something that is patently wrong. It is even less so for an independent lawyer who has tremendous discretion to refuse to take a case.* *Just to be clear, once a lawyer begins working on a case for a client there are ethical rules that (within limits) require him/her to follow the client's directives and work for the clients best interests. The lawyer also may not be always be free to cease representation once it has begun. But an independent lawyer can generally freely refuse to accept a case.