As captain I have personally done no less then seven court battles, including defamation cases against heads and NT at large, suing crew members and criminal trials. I have seen multiple other captains take lawyers very seriously as well, matter of fact I see captains take lawyers more seriously then not, even the really shitty lawyers that just want be an issue.
As HOS I always take lawyers seriously if they take themselves seriously but a large number of lawyers instead feel as if their job is to just be as annoying as possible, a solid number of lawyer interactions I have start out with the lawyer knowing nothing, seeing sec arresting something and promptly declaring sec is in the wrong with no information once-so-ever and as such, those lawyers get ignored and sidelined, rightfully so.
yeah in MRP. but even in my over 200 hours of spess there has been a grand total of 3 court cases I have ever seen. and all were on starlight and called by a Magistrate (basically a Head of the “Law” department sent directly by NT)
As walksanator specified, i feel like this is an LRP issue.
Altho, it would not hurt to empower roles that are exclusively used in MRP a bit more accross the board.
My previous point remains, the lawyer relies on too many of the more important and most chaotic roles to come togheter to do their job. Forcing interactions is one thing (and i do find it positive for engagement), but the requirements for a trial to be done are unreasonable at any other time than a greenshift (or equally uneventful shift).
Because you simply cannot prioritize a trial over dealing with any of the dangerous antags.
I’ve had plenty of experiences with sec on mander where no one is willing to do anything about sec abuses that it would be nice if there was an internal affairs officer. Though I’m not sure if the lawyer should be completely removed since they’re a lot of fun most of the time.