Daphné Morin

Evaluating the Case, Evaluating the Cost: Criteria for Constructing the Defense Strategy of Persons Suffering from Mental Illness

This article examines the challenges and problems faced by attorneys defending, in criminal courts, clients suffering from mental health problems, and who are generally socially and economically fragile. The analysis is based on 14 in-depth interviews with defense attorneys who practice criminal law at the Montreal Municipal Court. Through their descriptions, this article will explore how attorneys determine their strategies and the elements that contribute to their choices when they represent persons with mental health problems in court. Three factors appear determinant in this process: the assessment of the case (assessment of the clients wishes, assessment of the client), the evaluation of the costs and benefits from the clients perspective, and the evaluation of the costs and benefits from the lawyerss perspective. The central concept of best interest of the client is shown in the complex and multidimensional.