It is the lawyers, says this Harvard professor, who is the ones who fight for the truth and send the bad people in jail. One thing lawyers need to keep in mind is that they remain independent from public opinion, their clients, and the government. Due to the fact that the government is sensitive to rights of individuals and ensuring a fair process, for lawyers to do their work, they must be independent in thought and action.
A full independence is essential since without it we would not only degrade ourselves professionally and impair our ability to discharge our duties to clients, but we also would not be able to engage in various types of socially desirable work whether it is aiding the disadvantaged or participating in the policy issues of the day. There are four major types of independence that lawyers must adhere to he says. Independence in the practice of law, independence from public opinion, independence from clients, and independence from government are the four types. With most lawyers do not fit the old pattern of the free professional, implying the independent attorney working in a rural or small community, Independence in the practice of law is harder to come by now.
For lawyers in this environment, they were self employed and could take on the cases they wanted. With the corporation and law firms hiring lawyers, most of them have lesser freedom of making decisions and working on the cases they want to work in. They are subjected to pressure such as a preoccupation with billable hours and the bottom line.
Law is supposed to be a profession and not a business as what most corporations is making it out to be. It is no surprise how most people look to reduce costs and delays, which often leads to a preference for avoiding trials at all costs. Each lawyer is dominated by another and in the end they are all dominated by the judicial pressure or client pressure.
A lot of times, both parties can benefit going to trial even if reaching a compromise is what is really needed. It might be strange but lawyers need to remain independent from public opinion. Then again the society is also one that gives high regard to the rights of unpopular individuals and groups and ideas, and it is the lawyer who must strive to protect them.
If most of you remember, back in the olden times, the press helped whip the public into frenzy over what was termed the Boston Massacre, where British troops fired into ruckus a mob killing five colonists. At that time it was not a favorable choice but this lawyer defended the soldiers and later went on to help write the Declaration of Independence and served as the nation's second president. Yet it was this lawyer's belief that no person in a free society should be denied the right to counsel or denied a fair trial. Over time his representation of the British increased his public standing and made his more respected by others. Here, among the six soldiers that were charges four were acquitted and two were convicted only of manslaughter.
The lawyer later wrote that it was one of the most gallant, generous, manly, and disinterested actions of his whole life and one of the best pieces of service he ever rendered to his country. As much as possible it is better not to listen to the public's opinion so much. He even shares that many lawyers need to remember that they have an adversarial system in which fairness depends on spirited advocacy on both sides. Lawyers must know how to separate themselves from the desire to be liked, to compromise their independence, their willingness to stand up for their clients.
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