Representing Defendants on Charges of Economic Crime : Unethical When Done for a Fee

As prosecutors have increasingly invoked asset forfeiture laws in their war against crime, scholars have harshly criticized the use of forfeiture laws to seize attorneys' fees. In cases in which attorneys' fees are seized, prosecutors claim that defendants are paying their lawyers with the proceeds of criminal activity. For example, drug dealers might use the profits from cocaine or heroin sales to finance their defense, or embezzlers might use the skimmed funds to defray their legal expenses. According to many commentators, attorneys' fee forfeitures raise serious constitutional problems. If payments to attorneys may be seized by the government, criminal defendants will be greatly constrained in their ability to retain a lawyer, thereby compromising the defendants' Sixth Amendment right to counsel and undermining the fairness of the criminal justice system.'