Denis Ponomarenko, a partner at Barristers Law Firm, delivered a lecture on the limits of acceptable compromise between a client and the investigating authorities as part of the “Building a Defense Strategy” module at Legal High School. He is convinced that the goal of a defense attorney in criminal proceedings is not to secure an acquittal, as many people think, but rather to protect the client’s interests by any lawful means. A defense attorney must first determine whether the client admits guilt or not, and only then, based on that, build their defense strategy. However, even when a client admits guilt, a lawyer does not always have to take the position that the client is guilty; for this, there must be substantial and objective indicators and evidence of such guilt, and this evidence must be obtained exclusively by lawful means. If the attorney is convinced of the client’s guilt, but the client insists on his or her innocence, then, according to the speaker, the attorney must refer to the Rules of Professional Conduct: a lawyer may not take the position that the client is guilty and must instead take the position that the client is innocent.

Denis Ponomarenko explained that a lawyer should not insist on a specific decision; rather, the lawyer should provide recommendations and explain the consequences of pleading guilty or entering into a plea agreement, while the client must decide which strategy they consider acceptable. “A defense attorney cannot make decisions on behalf of the client,” the speaker emphasized.

Sometimes it is entirely correct and logical for a client to plead guilty: there are situations where it is advisable to reach a plea agreement with the prosecution.

In addition, as Denis Ponomarenko noted, a lawyer must analyze all the evidence available in the criminal case file to determine whether it is relevant to this specific case, whether it is admissible, and whether it has been disclosed to the defense.

After weighing and analyzing all of this, the lecturer emphasized that the client will be able to take one position or another and choose a strategy for defending against criminal prosecution. If the client admits guilt, it is necessary to determine the legal nature of that guilt and the specific elements to which the client admits guilt, since the client may misinterpret the extent of their guilt, and sometimes the actions may not even constitute a criminal offense.