[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-139908-en":3,"doc-seo-139908-105":31,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":28,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":29,"read_time":30},139908,687197207057,"Sage","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0",2,"Literature","The Lawyer and Faustian Bargains - Judicial Metaphor and Devil-and-Lawyer Tradition","The essay traces how the “Faustian bargain” image—devil versus God and the moral cost of making deals—appears in Western legal thinking, especially in the rhetoric of judges. Through a classic devil-and-lawyer story, references to opera and monotheistic religious confrontations, and attention to courtroom bargaining practices, it explains how prosecutors and defense attorneys interpret such transactions differently. The discussion culminates in examples from federal courts, showing how snitches are framed as devils and how bargains are used to shape judgments, legitimacy, and notions of right and wrong.","The Lawyer and Faustian Bargains  \nby Michael E.Tigar  \nThe image of the devil fighting for the soul pervades our litera-ture.Images from Stephen Vincent Benet's The Devil andDaniel Webster or the cadences of Milton's Paradise Lostenliven our speech and our perceptions.The devil,we say,is inthe details,or in the bottle in front of us.For,as we know,\"Maltdoes more than Milton can/To justify God's ways to man.”  \nIn lawyer circles,there is the story of the young law studentstanding in front of the career services bulletin board andshaking his head.An older gentleman appears beside him.\"Why the frown?\"the older man inquires.  \n“There are no jobs in public service,”the young manlaments.\"To make money and pay off your law school debt,you have to sell your soul.”  \n“And what,\"asks the old man,\"is wrong with that?”“Well,for one thing,you go to hell when you die.”\"That's not so bad.\"“Oh,come on!”  \n“No,really.I'm the devil,and I know.”“Oh,sure!The devil.”  \n\"You don't believe me.Come with me for awhile.I'll haveyou back before your next class.”  \nAnd with that,the young man was spirited away to a sort ofparadise.Soft breezes blew.There were refreshing drinks andgood things to eat.Beautiful young men and women swam inthe lagoon.The young man spent several days there and thenby some magic was back where he had been standing—andhardly any time had passed.  \nSo he sold his soul.He became successful and wealthy.Unlike some who followed in the same path,he was neverbothered by the U.S.Attorney,and he certainly did not go toClub Fed.  \nAs it must to all mortals,death came to him.And he went  \nto hell.It was a fiery furnace.The noise and stench wereunbearable.The cries and groans of eternal anguish rattledaround inside his head.  \nAfter a few days of this,by his reckoning of time,hedemanded to see the devil.There was a wait,but his wish wasgranted.There,in an air-conditioned office,sat the older gen-tleman who had recruited him.  \n\"Look,\"the lawyer said.“When you and I made the deal,Icame down here.It was beautiful,peaceful—nothing likewhat's out there.”  \n“Ah,yes,\"said the old gentleman,“you were in our sum-mer associate program.”  \nThat is only one of the thousands of devil-and-the-lawyerstories.They are everyplace in the Western tradition.In oldBrittany,they spoke of St.Ives,the patron saint of lawyers:“Saint Yves is from Brittany/A lawyer but not a thief/Such athing is beyond belief.”  \nI speak of the \"Western\"tradition because it seems to methat this dialectic of God versus evil,and distressingly oftenof those who believe in our God versus everybody else's,is acharacteristic of the three great monotheistic religions of theworld:Judaism,Christianity,and Islam.If there is one Godand He is all powerful,the very idea of Him summons up theimage of His dialectical antagonist.  \nThousands of heretics stood in a valley near Marseille in1209.“Which ones should we kill?”asked the general thatPhilip Augustus had sent to do the papal bidding.He wasstanding on the hillside and thinking of the 15,000 men,women,and children who were down there.  \n“Kill them all,\"said the papal legate.“God will recognizeHis own.\"  \nOh,yes,there are forces of evil in polytheistic religions,butnone,I think,with the all-encompassing power of Satan in ourmythology,none whose doings set the stage for an opera likeFaust.This sort of confrontation requires an anti-God whoembodies allthe characteristics of evil.After slurping,lusting,  \nstealing,and blaspheming your way through the seven deadlysins,you finally total your karma by indulging in the lively ones.  \nIt seems a little strange,at least to me,that “Faustian bar-gain”or similar locutions should have crept into our legal liter-ature only recently,in the last half of the 20th century.There areno federal cases before 1967 that use it,or any variant.Before1945,there is not a single federal case that uses any combina-tion of deal,bargain,or contract with Faust,the devil,or Satan.Perhaps the increased interest in opera has be","cbCaipTf4HZBxJV5","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaipTf4HZBxJV5","pdf",918723,5,1,4,"English","en",105,"# The Lawyer and Faustian Bargains\n## Devil-and-lawyer stories and Western tradition\n## God versus evil across monotheistic religions\n## The Faustian bargain as a legal metaphor\n## Snitch framed as devil in criminal justice","[{\"question\":\"What classic story structure connects lawyers with Faustian bargains?\",\"answer\":\"A law student believes public service offers no opportunity, makes a deal for success, and later discovers the consequences in hell. The narrative then reframes the devil as an office-like recruiter who understands the lawyer’s bargain and its moral accounting.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the author link the Faustian bargain to religious and cultural conflicts?\",\"answer\":\"The text argues that the confrontation between God and evil is characteristic of major monotheistic traditions, and that such an anti-God figure enables a Faust-like opera of moral deviation. It also suggests changing cultural interests influenced the phrase’s entry into legal language.\"},{\"question\":\"How do judges’ descriptions of testimony deals affect the meaning of “Faustian” in law?\",\"answer\":\"The essay describes how judges criticize prosecutors for striking deals with informants who lied, and how that rhetoric casts informants as “devils” and prosecutors as would-be Fausts. It further notes that prosecutors may be seen as managing the bargain to secure truthful testimony and avoid the implied end result.\"}]","The Lawyer and Faustian Bargains - Judicial Metaphor and Devil-and-Lawyer Tradition | PDF",1787564329,6,{"code":4,"msg":32,"data":33},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":34,"title":13,"keywords":35,"description":14,"schema_data":36,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":29},"the-lawyer-and-faustian-bargains-judicial-metaphor-and-devil-and-lawyer-tradition","",{"@graph":37,"@context":85},[38,53,68],{"@type":39,"itemListElement":40},"BreadcrumbList",[41,45,48,51],{"item":42,"name":43,"@type":44,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":46,"name":47,"@type":44,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":44,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":44,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-lawyer-and-faustian-bargains-judicial-metaphor-and-devil-and-lawyer-tradition/139908/",{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":42,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-04","2026-08-24",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"What classic story structure connects lawyers with Faustian bargains?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"A law student believes public service offers no opportunity, makes a deal for success, and later discovers the consequences in hell. The narrative then reframes the devil as an office-like recruiter who understands the lawyer’s bargain and its moral accounting.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"Why does the author link the Faustian bargain to religious and cultural conflicts?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"The text argues that the confrontation between God and evil is characteristic of major monotheistic traditions, and that such an anti-God figure enables a Faust-like opera of moral deviation. It also suggests changing cultural interests influenced the phrase’s entry into legal language.",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"How do judges’ descriptions of testimony deals affect the meaning of “Faustian” in law?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"The essay describes how judges criticize prosecutors for striking deals with informants who lied, and how that rhetoric casts informants as “devils” and prosecutors as would-be Fausts. It further notes that prosecutors may be seen as managing the bargain to secure truthful testimony and avoid the implied end result.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":52,"og:type":87,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":89,"canonical":52},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":92},[93,97,100,104,108,112,117,122,127,130,134],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":94,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},80,"literature",{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":105,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":107},"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":30,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":109,"show_sort_weight":110,"slug":111},"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":113,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":114,"show_sort_weight":115,"slug":116},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":118,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":119,"show_sort_weight":120,"slug":121},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":125,"slug":126},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":125,"slug":129},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":131,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":132,"show_sort_weight":131,"slug":133},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":135,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":136,"show_sort_weight":20,"slug":137},19,"General","general"]