Posted by
Virginia Daddy on Monday, September 07, 2009 12:39:09 PM
As a lawyer-in-training, I feel it is important to have goals as to what it is I want to achieve after fully joining the legal community. Besides my studies, I have been working at the University assisting the general counsel's office. My brief exposure here has given me an opportunity to hone in on what it is I hope to do in my future career. But this manifesto is more focused on the bigger picutre, beyond my day-to-job, and what I feel a lawyer should do in his community.
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1) Protect the rights of everyone, even those you don't like. Now, this does not mean you must accept every right as truly in existence, but it does mean that those that are truly rights, they must be protected. Those that are not truly rights and have been abuses of times past or intrusions on others rights beyond what is reasonable, must be corrected. The goal is that everyone retains the full rights they are duly afforded and rights should not be created out of expediency or beacause a few feel put out.
2) Be active in the community. Lawyers have a skills that can benefit any group or organization. They know wise questions to ask and issues to examine in most any situation. I had a professor last spring tell us our job is to worry for our client, and I think this applies even to community organizations in which we get involved with to make them more powerful in the community. This greater involvement comes from effectively weaving through the dangers an organization can come across and situating itself to be most effective.
3) Act honestly and within our given responsibilities. We are attorneys, meaning our job is to help others understand and work through the legal system when they need to do so. Of course, at the beginning of any such legal question is the possibility to change the law. But how we approach that must be done in an honest and forthright manner. We should use restraint whenever we are faced with the true possibility of enacting great change through the legal process. This restraint comes from the reality that whenever we expand one group's rights, we limit the rights of another group. If we overly seek to protect one group over another, we will act unjustly to the other group. If our mission is to create maximum justice, there is a distinct possibility we must always be aware of how we affect all groups, not just our immediate client. While we will work for our immediate client, this does not mean should abandon all of our principles in favor of this one client. If we act selfishly to pad our wallet, we do little good in society.
4) Do not forget our other priorities. As lawyers, often our time will be dominated by a given case or client. This can be a good thing, but it can reach a point where we actually cause more harm than good from focusing too much on the one thing. In such a situation, the case or client will be important, but there are other things that will always remain more important. Family, community organizations, neighbors, church (if you go) and any such place where you have an opportunity to influence others outside of our profession. Ignoring these aspects of life will hurt the job you do and it will hurt the people you are closest to. This can be difficult to achieve, but it is necessary to find a way to do so.
5) Seek to leave a lasting legacy. Here, I do not mean a financial legacy, or a legacy listing all of your achievements. Rather, I mean a legacy where people seek to emulate what you have done. Be a hero, and have people truly miss you when you are gone. Act proactively now to make the people around you better, and act fairly to all. Seek to give people opportunities to better themselves by encouraing them to be proactive, too. Do not give people they can have whatever want simply because they want it, but create in them an ethic to work for what they want. Teach them to play by the rules, and not to change the rules because they don't like them. Do this in all facets of life, respecting everyone and every side of an issue.
6) Hate that which is dishonest and manipulative. The law is to protect each and every member of society and is not there to pad your bank account. Just because one person may be put out does not mean the law is broken. As I said before, for every right expanded another is limited. There are those that will take any feel good story and exploit it. But this is not always good or even right. Far too often, it will be to the detriment of society. We all know, I think, what is truly right and what is truly wrong. We should always remember this when putting together a case.
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Like it or not, lawyers do hold a special position in society, and it is one that can be easilly abused. We should be wary of this power and act responsibly under our responsibilities in society. Those responsibilities are limiting, but if applied correctly are very powerful