As lawyers, we advocate and negotiate for our paying clients, and rightfully so; it is an outstanding privilege and can make for a great career.
I submit, however, that a large part of what makes lawyering a calling and a profession is not necessarily what we do for a fee or a paycheck, but whether and how we serve as voices for the voiceless.
Some lawyers (for example those who work for legal aid organizations) have the opportunity to serve as such voices in most everything that they do in their careers.
But even those of us who work in private firms representing business clients can and should find opportunities to be such voices on a regular basis. Let me suggest several.
The Indigent
There are an endless number of indigent and low-income members of society with little or no meaningful access to the legal system because they need help to understand their rights.
Attorneys have knowledge and skills that can literally change lives for the better, sometimes in a matter of minutes. Our legal community constantly is working to create such opportunities. The “Ask-A-Lawyer” program for example provides 15-minute counseling sessions to members of a waiting room-only crowd each month in one of our city’s underserved communities.
Last month, lawyers and law students helped dozens of immigrants aspiring to become American citizens to complete paperwork to start the citizenship process.
It only takes minutes of interaction to change lives, to point our neighbors in the right direction, to help make sense out of the confusing and frustrating. What an opportunity!
Lawyers in our community have a unique opportunity this month to learn more about how lawyers and the legal system can better serve indigent and low income people.
More than a thousand lawyers from all over the world will be in Jacksonville May 17-19 for the American Bar Association’s Equal Justice Conference.
This is the first time that the Equal Justice Conference is being held in Jacksonville and it will be an amazing several days during which lawyers and social workers will gather to discuss the challenges, solutions and opportunities to serve those most in need.
The JBA and Jacksonville Area Legal Aid are integrally involved in planning this world-class event. Plan to be a part. Contact Kathy Para, [email protected], at JALA for more information.
The Judiciary
That’s right, the judiciary — the third branch of government. As non-judge lawyers, we are in many ways the most important voice for the judiciary.
Judges cannot lobby; they generally are not in a position to defend difficult legal decisions or to provide constitutional or other legal context; and judges cannot campaign in the same manner as those who are elected to other public offices.
It is our responsibility to lobby for needs of the judicial branch of government; to put unpopular legal decisions in context; and to educate the public (at least our family and friends) about the candidates for judicial election and about the process of merit retention for appellate court judges.
As this City’s new courthouse opens later this month, each of us will have the opportunity to be a voice for the vital role that the judiciary and the judicial system plays. We each have the opportunity to stand up for the branch of government charged with standing up for all of our citizens. Don’t miss that opportunity. Be a voice for the judiciary.
The Next Generation
We have a responsibility to be role models — to speak to, and into the lives of, those that will come after us.
Such an opportunity presented itself last month when a local magazine promoted a story on “Jax Best Lawyers” with a cover featuring a non-lawyer model dressed, made-up and posed like the “cover girl” on most checkout line magazines.
Many local lawyers (mostly women and some men) wrote to the magazine’s editors and otherwise spoke out about the apparent suggestion that to be a successful female attorney, or other professional, a woman needs to dress provocatively. (That suggestion is in sharp contrast to the magazine’s cover last year portraying a tastefully dressed man in a suit.)
As the magazine’s editor correctly noted in his mocking response to the negative letters, there certainly are more “serious” concerns to deal with. But this one presented itself.
In response, many in our community took the opportunity to be a voice, calmly and professionally articulating the concern that, for example, a young girl aspiring to be a professional might erroneously conclude that successful professionals must dress and act provocatively.
We should certainly speak out on more “serious” concerns, but we should be willing always to be a voice on any issue, as the opportunity arises. I am proud that so many in our profession took advantage of this opportunity.
Intelligent Dialogue
It is nearly impossible to find a television or radio show host that is not polarizing. The Internet, where one can speak anonymously yet with great reach, contains even more polarizing content.
Political parties, branches of government, laws and people are vilified — to sensationalize a point or to promote a particular agenda. Almost entirely lacking is sensible, intelligent objective dialogue. Regrettably, media ratings are not high for respectful discussion about ideas, logic and historic context. Notwithstanding how lawyers are sometimes portrayed, we are educated to engage in such dialogue — to attack arguments not people. It is from that type of dialogue that positive solutions, change and progress emanate.
As lawyers, we need to participate in intelligent dialogue and to encourage the same from others. It is a voice that is missing.