Questions about lawyers

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Fuma

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I don't know that much about law, but if say a lawyer is defending a murderer/rapist and the defendant is found guilty, does the lawyer get any punishment if found lying. For instance the lawyer would argue that the defendant was not there when the murder/rape took place, but after some investigation, the evidence proves otherwise.

I started watching Boston Legal and the lawyers seem to abuse the system - lies, corruption, bribes, etc....
Surely these guys should get punished or something. I remember a case few months ago in PTA where the lawyers got millions unlawfully, but they were only told to pay those millions back, but nothing (I think) happened to them.
 
Technically the lawyer is only saying what his client tells him. So if he says the defendant wasn't on the scene it must what the defendant told him. The defendant (and therefore the lawyer) can lie as much as he likes, it is for the state to prove otherwise. Only witnesses get in trouble for lying. Lawyer-client protection protects the lawyer from prosecution to an extent.
 
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