ABSTRACT
This chapter explains some of the major halakhic issues facing the Jewish lawyer. From the source halakhic codifiers derive the prohibition against appearing before non-rabbinic courts, termed arkaot in codes and commentaries. Early Geonic sources hold this ban to be binding law, as do the major Rishonim. Halakhic rules of evidence, standards for interrogating witnesses, forms of punishment, and a host of other procedural and substantive matters are different from those of other legal systems. Therefore, in all cases where Jewish “ownership” is a possibility, one should consult a qualified halakhic authority before assuming that the organization can be sued without violating the halakhah. Rabbi Menashe Klein agrees that the halakhic problems confronting a lawyer are such that only one in a thousand attorneys can possibly manage to avoid transgressing any halakhic restrictions. Although a Jew can find halakhic authorities to sanction reluctantly a career in law, a potential law student ought to seriously examine the halakhic and ethical problems.
