Monday • May 2, 2005

Law Day: A time for self-examination, not self-congratulation

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Yesterday, May 1, was "Law Day" in the United States.  State and local bar associations will recognize the occasion this week with all the usual events, including banquet-style luncheons and swearing-in ceremonies where lawyers, old and new, are reminded that the law is (or, more accurately, can be) an honorable profession.

That is all well and good.  But is it enough?  Or would it be more appropriate for the organized bar to celebrate Law Day in a manner that places self-examination ahead of self-congratulation?  All too often, the words we hear spoken on Law Day sound very much like a defensive plea that the legal profession deserves more respect than it receives from the public at large.  That may be true.  But does anyone honestly think we will raise respect for our profession by exhorting people to understand that we are entitled to respect?  Wouldn't it be more effective if we made Law Day an occasion for activities that earn respect?

Reasonable people already understand that the rule of law is essential to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  They already understand that the legal profession plays a crucial role in American democracy. And they already understand that many of our country's greatest leaders have been lawyers.

But that is not all.  They also understand that we lawyers can sometimes be craven, hypocritical and self-serving.  They understand that lawyers can be fond of creating rules for others and even more fond of bending rules for themselves.  They understand all of that because they have seen it.  In Pogo's famous words, "We have met the enemy and he is us."  We, as a profession, are collectively responsible for our own public relations problem. 

The question, therefore, is whether we really make the situation any better by engaging in public relations activities that are calculated to manipulate public opinion of our profession.  I think we make the situation worse, because most people are smart enough to see right through it. The same applies to our individual conversations with people who are not lawyers. For example, take the situation where someone makes a teasing reference to the line, "First thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." Does anyone seriously believe that we win people over by trying to convince them that they don't understand Shakespeare?

Perhaps next year the organized bar could celebrate Law Day by organizing summit meetings and conferences about ways we can address some of the problems of our profession. That might attract some positive coverage of Law Day, as compared to smirks about lawyers patting each other on the back.

Suggested reading:

• "Law Day, not Lawyers Day" by David Giacalone
• "First Thing, Let's Quell All the Liars", also by David Giacalone