A Guide, a Sword, and a Shield

            I have an unfortunate story that sometimes pops up in conversation. I am trying to reach a certain number of volunteer hours by the time I graduate law school, so I interact with a lot of lawyers who are getting in their pro bono hours. Every profession has its highs and lows, along with correspondingly good people and not-so-good people. During one of these activities I was paired with a lawyer who had the worst attitude I have ever seen, and what is worse: she took it out on her clients. With every question a client posed, she scoffed, rolled her eyes, and looked at me, as if to say, “can you believe how stupid this person is?” It did not happen once or twice, it was her reaction to every single question. As if, in her years of practice, she could not believe poor, vulnerable people do not understand the complexities of housing law and the surrounding mountain of forms. This experience truly encouraged me to be a better lawyer and a better person. It also made me think about what the role of a lawyer in our society is, and how much good they can do. I want to talk about what this profession has become.

            A lawyer has as many negative stereotypes as any profession out there: hired gun, only cares about money, constantly lying. But as I said before, there are good ones and bad, and as with every profession, most are good. The world of the law is far more complicated than people appreciate, just like the world of engineering or medicine. It requires years of specialized training and certain skills that not all possess. The primary tools in a lawyer’s arsenal is their mental, writing, and speaking skills. We are hired to represent the interests of our clients. Those interests sometimes are at odds with the popular interests of the time but, as with everyone, all clients deserve a defense. The Department of Labor estimates there are roughly 900,000 lawyers in the U.S. to handle the estimated 40 million lawsuits per year. These lawyers act for their clients in three ways: a guide, a sword, and a shield.

            A lawyer is a guide through a treacherous forest of law, filled with pitfalls, unknown complications, case law, local biases, and archaic traditions. In Gideon v. Wainwright, a 1963 Supreme Court case which solidified a person’s right to counsel in criminal trials, the Court rightly held a lay person “requires the guiding hand of counsel at every step in the proceedings against [them].”  The Court recognized the perils of trying to work through this system on your own, it would be ineffectual and ill-advised. Lawyers are there to make sure all the proper steps are taken in order to carry out a client’s will. There are rules of ethics and training that specifically do not allow the lawyer to make decisions without client input and direction. When you hate lawyers, remember it is the client’s interest their serving, not their own. But sometimes a client needs more help than simply guidance, this is where the second and third roles are brought in.

            A lawyer acting as a sword and shield go hand-in-hand. When a lawsuit is filed, there are (usually) two parties, and in our system,  one will be right, and one will be wrong. There will be a winner and a loser. But that does not get into the sometimes dramatically imbalanced powers of the clients. Lawyers, as with all things in life, cost money. Usually the more you have, the better you can allocate your resources. Better lawyers are more expensive and hiring a team of lawyers will almost always be more effective than only having one. But, once the hiring process is over, the court evens those imbalances out with every lawyer having to follow the same rules. A lawyer works to enforce the rights of their client by fighting those who would violate them. Or, a lawyer defends a client from those who want to take advantage of them. A court of law allows anyone to bring about a lawsuit against those who do wrong, the lawyer is simply the tool used to succeed in that system.

            Before this country officially began, John Adams was the lawyer defending British troops who had fired into a crowd at the Boston Massacre in 1770. In the revolutionary passions of Massachusetts, Adams understood the importance of a fair trial based on the rule of law rather than what some might want or might believe was right. Of the eight soldiers, six were acquitted and the last two were given reduced sentences. Since then, our system of laws and courts has only grown more important and more powerful. Thanks to John Marshall and others, the decisions by the Supreme Court are what binds our country together. But this system’s growth also indicates a larger trend in our society. Systems do not grow without a need for their growth. More people are using the legal system than ever before, but I do not see this as a problem or some great indictment of our society. This is an indication of the confidence in the solidarity and effectiveness of that system. As we grow more sophisticated as a people, our “fights” will take place more and more in the civilized world of law and economics. Our wars will become debates, and our conflicts will become discussions. As we move more into a peaceful and productive society that embraces our evolution of intelligence, we will need guides to see us through these complex systems. I am excited to be one of those guides.

#FitzFile