As a kid, I wanted to be a preacher. I knew the world was broken (though I didn't know the extent of it). I still have an occasionally annoying moralistic streak: I can't stand bullies. Lies offend me. It disgusts me when people won't own up to mistakes that hurt others. The following excerpt is from my 2020 book Lawyers, Judges & Semi-Rational Beasts: Cognitive Science and Persuasion:
"The idea of the lawyer as an amoral technician debases everyone who embraces it. Lawyers sometimes talk of lawsuits as a game, with all the moral consequence of a poker tournament. ... But in most of our work, someone has harmed another person either carelessly or deliberately — or has been wrongly accused of doing so. We may disagree about what the truth is, but the truth matters. ... Most of our work sags under the cargo of moral consequence. If we participate in causing or perpetuating an injustice, we bear some of the blame. A bar card does not immunize us from moral responsibility."