Samuel DeRocco IVEthical Issues of Pretense in the Legal ProfessionPretense is the use of deception or misrepresentation to obtain information and achieve a desired negative effect or advantage on an unsuspecting party. The issue of pretext illustrates one of the many “blurred lines” of ethics in the legal profession. A lawyer is strictly prohibited from engaging in "conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deception, or misrepresentation" under ABA Model Rule 8.4(c), but some lawyers use deception as a means to find evidence to support their claim in a case. I disagree with the assertion that such a practice should be inherently considered unethical. Undercover investigations by lawyers aimed at uncovering political corruption, discrimination and organized crime have existed for decades, and such activities are unlikely to end any time soon. There is a trend in legal policy that determines the ethics of pretense by interpreting deceptive activities in both "status-based" and "conduct-based" analyses. Examples of classification inc status...