Cheap shot taken at legal profession

I WRITE to take issue with the cheap shot that Nick Cafardo took at lawyers and the legal professions in "Giambi now the silent type" (Sports, May 24).

In an otherwise informative column about actions that Major League Baseball took following comments made by Jason Giambi to USA Today regarding steroid use, he wrote: "In other words, the lawyers have intercepted the truth. They are controlling the situation. The truth will now come out when the lawyers want it to, not a second sooner."

Several paragraphs later, he wrote: "Giambi admitted that Major League Baseball has advised him not to speak any more about his comments to USA Today."

The latter passage appears to be based on fact, whereas the former disparages lawyers and the legal profession without any basis.

In America, every citizen has a right to consult a lawyer, to ensure that rights are protected and that the truth-finding process is conducted fairly. That's what a lawyer does, and that's the lawyer's ethical obligation. Lawyers -- and I throughout my 35-year career -- have defended the media and the right of free expression in many landmark First Amendment court cases and in Congress, so it's just plain wrong to say that lawyers engage in "intercepting the truth."

I am proud of my profession, and I regret that Nick Cafardo so casually impugned it.

MICHAEL S. GRECO
Wellesley

The writer is former president of the American Bar Association and the Massachusetts Bar Association.