Perhaps no line in literature more bandied about to make both one point an its opposite than that spoken by Dick the Butcher to his fellow rebel Cade] in Henry VI, part 2:
DICK: The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.
"Yeah, kill all the lawyers!", the rabble who have never read Shakespeare agree -- not knowing the preceding lines spake by the would-be usurper of the throne:
CADE: There shall be in England seven halfpenny loaves sold for a penny; the three-hooped pot shall have ten hoops; and I will make it a felony to drink small beer. All the realm shall be in common, and in Cheapside shall my palfrey go to pass. And when I am king -- as king I will be -- there shall be no money; all shall eat and drink on my score; and I will apparel them all in one livery, that they may agree like brothers, and worship me their lord.
Lawyers know the quote and the context: criminals hate lawyers because we stand for the rule of law. It came up more than once in my legal education and probably that of others here. It leaves us proud. Sometimes, perhaps, smug.
Have we earned that pride?
If there were a special room on Daily Kos frequented only by lawyers, I might put this diary there, because what I hope to elicit is the thoughts of lawyers about what they thought that Law would be and what they find that Law is. But perhaps it is best not hidden away, perhaps this is a conversation for lawyers to have in front of the entire public. My questions for my colleagues in Law are this:
- Why did you decide to study Law?
- To what extent was it hopes of being able to improve the world?
- To what extent have such hopes, if any, been realized?
- In what ways have they been realized?
- What obstacles impeded their realization?
- Where does the outcome leave you with respect to your idealism?
- How best do you think the field could change?
I've been thinking about this recently because, with the 2008 cycle over (or mostly so), I've been looking for work. I have finally found a job within law, for now -- not one well-paying, but one I can take with pride. (I'm not going to describe it; it's not fair to my new employer to have me blogging about work.) What struck me throughout this process was how easy it would have been for me to make a lot of money doing something I found noxious -- insurance defense work, primarily, enough to contribute to many campaigns -- and how hard it was to find positions that were really serving the world. I do not see how one with a family could afford to hold some of the positions I considered -- and felt I could not pursue.
Fellow members of the Bar: what are your personal stories? Has Law turned out to be what you hoped and expected? At a time of economic disaster, do you feel equipped to help the country heal? If not, why? And, if not, how did we come to the point where so many of our best and brightest, those inclined towards social change, end up with so little opportunity to effect it? If you once thought that you "want to change the world," and that thought appeared again, how would you try to do it?
It seems to me that the thing we have done as a society, particularly under this Administration, is to kill all the lawyers' idealism, using sledges of Yoo and Addington and Gonzales, so that few (let alone "all") of us no longer need fear the likes of Cade and Dick the Butcher. How might we, as a profession, again inspire such pride-bestowing hatred? Could you even imagine such a thing: to be hated as a profession again for all of the wrong reasons?
(Note: public defenders, feel free to gloat -- but you also have to answer the questions.)