Lawyer
| SERVICE & SECURITY STAFF | |
  Lawyer |
Access: Law Office, Courtroom, Brig Additional Access: N/A Difficulty: Easy Supervisors: Head of Personnel Duties: Advocate for prisoners, create law-binding contracts, ensure Security is following protocol and Space Law Guides: Space Law, Guide to Trials, Paper Markdown Quote: I will have evidence and there will be consequences. |
The Lawyer is tasked with the thankless job of providing legal aid to the crew. This tends to involve defending Traitors in trials, suing Security, the company, aliens, company or aliens or anyone else they can think of for endangering the crew. Other duties include hassling the engineers and scientists over health and safety violations, and general ambulance-chasing.
Bare minimum requirements: Talk to prisoners and speak to security on their behalf if asked. Encourage the warden to reduce overly harsh sentences. Represent aggrieved crewmembers if needed.
Duties
- Consult on the law. Be present when people are imprisoned, so you can give the correct time. Be sure to explain the sentence for each crime and the total time. In some cases, you may argue for reduced sentence times based on mitigating factors (e.g. clowning, insanity), but don't push the issue.
- Ascertain guilt or innocence. When a suspect is brought in, check the stories of officers. You may be able to convince them when they either have the wrong person or if they committed a lesser crime than thought. Ask the Detective for his forensics scanner to get the physical evidence that supports your client ("your client" being any suspect brought in).
- Get medical care for inmates. Because officers usually resume their patrol after arresting somebody, they'll appreciate it if you keep inmates healthy.
- Clean up the Brig. You're going to spend most of your time here, so keep it clean! The warden needs the help; the brig is one of the messiest places on the station.
- Help released inmates out of the brig. When their time is up, bring them their belongings (sometimes they are kept in the evidence room), help them out of the brig, and make sure the warden or HoS sets their security record to "Released".
- Participate in trials. An unfortunately small part of your job; you can sometimes get trials for inmates scheduled to be executed or when you can convince the HoS that it would be entertaining. Fortunate lawyers may get the chance to defend high-profile persons, like wizards.
- Create law-binding contracts. As a Lawyer, the easiest and most efficient way to get something done is to create contracts, despite popular belief. There are many different types of contracts but a common one is a contract which requests that both parties do a particular action for the other party; ie: trading helmets. If you display these contracts to the Lawyer Gods, then you MIGHT get something nice from them.
- Litigation. Health, safety, and human rights violations abound on the station but be warned that getting anything done about it will test your law skills.
Justice for All
You begin the round in your office with a blue or purple suit, Brown shoes, a briefcase, With 6 pieces of paper and a pen, a PDA, a Security Radio Headset and a Box.
You'll need to ingratiate yourself with Security personnel; otherwise, your shift as a lawyer will likely be fruitless and painful. You have virtually no physical power, but you can accumulate social power. Greet them when you first see them, use titles like "officer" when referring to them, say please and thank you, and generally try to roleplay a friendly fellow crew member. Don't let your speech imply authority, though: your Head is the HoP, not the HoS. Make it clear that your function is to uphold justice, the welfare of your clients, and the good of the station. Do not abuse your security headset or sec will at the least take it away or at worst arrest you for it AND take it away.
It is advised that, as a lawyer, you not attack Security personnel at all, even when they deserve it (fleeing is acceptable). While it may help in the short run, future shifts may have random beatings if you are seen as a threat.
But if you can't be bothered to do your job, or more likely nobody is calling for you to help them, then you can always just get some tools from the tool storage and redecorate your office.
"I'm gonna contact HR!"
You always start with none of the social power. But outside of socializing with the Security to acquire respect from them, you can get power directly by building relationships with HoS, HoP, and Captain.
- The Head of Security is the obvious one as they are the ones controlling the Security department. Befriending HoS means you friended the Security department in general, as whenever you will have a problem with a shitty Security Officer it can get easily solved by a one PDA message. Bring HoS food, do what they ask, and support them in their (sometimes illegal actions). You might say this is corruption, but corruption is not just a petty crime but a tool of power.
- The Head of Personnel is your boss whose job is pretty vague, but most of the time HoP is like a Captain who is more loved by the crew. Even though they can't directly influence the Security Department as they have no authority there, they're still most likely will be feared for being the closest person to the Captain. HoP is the easiest to befriend (as they're your boss and also do a similar job to you). Follow their orders and visit them often regarding the Security Department being corrupted from bottom to top.
- Captain is the ultimate authority of the station, having them on your side makes everything easier as even HoS can't escape their wrath. But befriending Captain is not as easy, usually, they're pretty paranoid and won't anyone outside of their heads get in proximity of them, and they're too busy (doing nothing) to talk with you. To befriend Captain you better try to befriend the HoP first to have the ability for contacting the Captain, after this just keep in contact with them.
Having any of the heads on your side is powerful for helping you to upkeep the law on the station. But if this station has already rotted to the root, they all are assholes or just plain out stupid there is only one left - THE FAX.
The Fax Machine is extremely underused, its purpose is to teleport paper documents to other fax machines around the station OR to the Nanotrasen! Even though contacting Nanotrasen is simple, getting an answer from them is not. To increase the likelihood of getting a response:
- Write visually appealing documents
- Stamp and sign the document
- Make the document interesting
Wrath of Nanotrasen can't even be escaped by the Captain themself, this is why this is probably the last resort tool you will use. But contacting Nanotrasen can be done for other more fluff RP reasons.
Justice for None
I would like to announce that I believe my client to be a DISGUSTING TRAITOR, and I resent the fact that I've been given the task of defending him. You should probably just toss him out of the airlock or something, I rest my case, sir.
As a traitor, you have closer ties to security than anyone else. Officers may go into the break room alone, and make themselves vulnerable to attack; reducing the number of officers may help even when they aren't your target. Your briefcase can fit the contents of a toolbox in it but is considerably less suspicious than carrying a toolbox around. If you can acquire them from Security storage, it is not difficult to stuff them with handcuffs and flashbangs. You can also hear the security radio, which gives you a lot of intel. If you get someone to sign an overly binding contract from you with death as a punishment. the victim will be hesitant to call you out on comms if you're not using any traitor gear. Plus if the sec arrests you after carrying out that contract violation hit, they might see your contract in your bag and think of it as business as usual before letting you off the hook.
Tips and gimmicks for being a traitor
- Become a loan shark, advertising loans of money to people who need it, once they're suckered, require they give back more than they got if they say no, beat them up and take it from them.
- Create overly binding and incriminating contracts and get people to sign them. If they violate the contract, kill them. Security won't bat an eye after finding out that the offender violated a contract.
- Use the ancient art of entrapment to have an excuse to arrest and execute anyone without your superiors stopping you, make sure to disguise yourself and not leave fingerprints when you do this.
- Act and dress like a mob boss, recruit people into your mafia, giving them a cut of the credits you earn for doing your bidding. If you make hit requests sound convincing enough while lying about what the offender did, a crewmate can assassinate someone for you at your request. Just remember to make sure to put a legal immunity form in your underling's backpacks so they will get let off the hook.
Overthrowing Rulers for Fun and Profit
As a Revolutionary, you have access to sec, with the possibility of dragging away revolutionaries. You'll end up being implanted very quickly if you're not fast. You can also use a screwdriver, and give your headset encryption to Rev Heads, helping them listen to security radio, which gives a lot of intel during a revolution.
