system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: If a lawyer falls under the impression that their client is guilty, do they have a legal responsibility to defend the client regardless or to drop the case?
gpt
Everyone is entitled to a legal defense, even the guilty. A lawyer cannot lie for his client, but he doesn't have to. A lawyer's job is to force the opposition to prove its case.

Remember that the standard of innocence in a US court isn't "innocent" it's "not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt."