Losing is inevitable in our system, but clients, or interested citizens, may not see or appreciate that a judge or jury didn’t see things their way. Especially in the case of a hotly contested matter, it’s not uncommon to see litigants react in anger at an adverse decision.

But what about the situation where a litigant or another interested party (or heaven forbid, a lawyer) takes offense at the decision of the judge or jury and strikes out with public statements alleging corruption or threats against the judge? What happens then? Who comes to the judge’s defense?

West Virginia Office Managing Partner Marc Williams discusses recent incidents in West Virginia and calls on lawyers to agree that “we all have a responsibility to the system where we ply our trade to protect the integrity of the process. After all, if lawyers don’t come to the defense of judges, who will?”