Cite as: 528 U. S. 470 (2000)
Opinion of Souter, J.
cifically instructed concerning pursuit of an appeal, the lawyer should advise the client of the possibility of appeal before relinquishing responsibility for the matter." Restatement (Third) of the Law Governing Lawyers § 31(3) (Proposed Final Draft No. 1, Mar. 29, 1996) embodies the same standards: "A lawyer must notify a client of decisions to be made by the client . . . and must explain a matter to the extent reasonably necessary to permit the client to make informed decisions regarding the representation." Indeed, California has apparently eliminated any option on a lawyer's part to fail to give advice on the appeal decision (whether the failure be negligent or intentional). California Penal Code Ann. § 1240.1(a) (West Supp. 2000) provides that trial counsel has a duty to "provide counsel and advice as to whether arguably meritorious grounds exist for reversal or modification of the judgment on appeal." California thus appears to have adopted as an unconditional affirmative obligation binding all criminal trial counsel the very standard of reasonable practice expressed through the Restatement and the ABA standards.
I understand that under Strickland, "[p]revailing norms of practice as reflected in American Bar Association standards and the like . . . are guides to determining what is reasonable, but they are only guides," and that "[n]o particular set of detailed rules for counsel's conduct can satisfactorily take account of the variety of circumstances faced by defense counsel or the range of legitimate decisions regarding how best to represent a criminal defendant." 466 U. S., at 688- 689. But that qualification has no application here.
While Strickland's disclaimer that no particular set of rules should be treated as dispositive respects the need to defer to reasonable "strategic choices" by lawyers, id., at 690, no such strategic concerns arise in this case. Strategic choices are made about the extent of investigation, the risks of a defense requiring defendant's testimony and exposure to cross-examination, the possibility that placing personal
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