The Lawyer\u27s Role Before Litigation

A lawyer is consulted regarding antitrust aspects of proposed business activities; or regarding the possibility that his client may have a cause of action under some antitrust law. What is his role at this stage? What are his responsibilities? Would these be substantially different if the client\u27s problems had no antitrust element? The system of formulating legal principles and studying and teaching law on the basis of the decisions of litigated cases has one serious shortcoming, at least, in its tendency to obscure the dual role of the lawyer: first as counsel, and second as advocate. Both lawyers and laymen tend to think of the lawyer as an advocate for his client\u27s cause,rather than as a counsel in avoiding litigation or in determining whether or not there should be any cause. The result is that lawyers tend to think and act as advocates, generally to the prejudice of their role as counsel