103Laboratory Excellence and Ethics
Conicts can readily arise between the scientist and the lawyer. It is the
scientist’s duty to describe the evidence as it actually is; it is the duty of the
attorney to describe it in the most favorable light for his client. As a result,
in the courtroom the science may sometimes be abused; this abuse of sci-
ence can be subtle, but it may not be trivial (ornton, 1983). Although it is
conceded that the adversary process may be poorly suited to objective pre-
sentation and evaluation of scientic data, it must be remembered that this is
not the essential purpose of the process. e system has evolved over many
years as an eective and usually fair process for resolution of conict, which,
although easy to crit ...