Does a lawyer ever need another lawyer to represent themselves?

Question

Suppose a criminal defense lawyer got charged for murder; I wonder if they need to get another criminal defense lawyer to represent them in a court, or they can represent themselves? I am looking for answers specific to united-states.

Answer 1

An attorney charged with murder can act as his own defense attorney. The right to represent yourself is protected by both statute, 28 U.S.C. § 1654, and the Sixth Amendment, Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 (1975) (“A defendant in a state criminal trial has an independent constitutional right of self-representation.”).

An attorney charged with murder should not act as his own defense attorney, as it poses too great a risk of failure for a variety of reasons. Even if you are an experienced crimnal-defense attorney, it is difficult to be objective about your own case, it is impossible to carry on with your own life and job while trying to defend yourself from felony charges, it's hard to investigate your case when you're sitting in jail, and so on.

Answer 2

france

Does a lawyer ever needs another lawyer to represent themselves?

Yes, because certain judicial procedures require that the defendant (or plaintiff in a civil lawsuit) be assisted by a lawyer. The fact that the defendant are themselves a lawyer does not matter.

That is in particular the case for murder, a serious crime that is judged by a cour d'assises where representation is mandatory; see article 274 of the penal procedure code

L'accusé est ensuite invité à choisir un avocat pour l'assister dans sa défense.

Si l'accusé ne choisit pas son avocat, le président ou son délégué lui en désigne un d'office.

The defendant is invited to choose a lawyer to assist in their defense.

If the defendant fails to do so, the court designates a lawyer for them.

For the full list of procedures with mandatory representation, but see here for civil procedures and there for criminal procedures.

You could say French law is more paternalistic than the US: you must be represented in certain procedures, no matter how competently you (think you) can defend yourself. Just to be clear, going pro se in other procedures is still an incredibly bad idea for all the usual reasons.