Lawyers play a positive role
in our society
By Craig Holden
President, the State Bar of California
It is almost a cliché – but it
is certainly true – that people bad mouth lawyers until they need one. As
members of a learned and venerable profession, we don’t toot our own horns
enough, or celebrate the positive role that lawyers play in society. The
overwhelming majority of lawyers are helping people solve their problems –
whether in the context of a corporate deal or litigation or through pro bono
legal services – and I’m proud to trumpet the positive role lawyers play.
While the priority of the
State Bar of California is to protect the public from unethical or incompetent
lawyers, some may think we are focused only on the bad apples. But in fact, we
recognize and support lawyers who do many things in California and across the
country in their roles as true public
citizens.
As public
citizens, lawyers work to improve our justice system, improve access to legal
assistance, and promote diversity in the profession—which enhances both access
and fairness. As members of a learned profession, lawyers cultivate wider knowledge
of the law, promote civics education, and build confidence in the rule of law
as a cornerstone of democracy. (The general notion of public citizen is familiar
to those who know the Preamble to the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct.)
Lawyers are also problem
solvers in business and in people’s personal lives. Lawyers help business
people start companies, navigate technical regulations, and obtain patents, but
they also help people become citizens, write wills and obtain redress for
injuries.
Lawyers are also bold leaders.
Many of our founding fathers and greatest presidents were lawyers. Adams, Jefferson,
Lincoln, Taft and FDR were lawyers, to name just a few. And beyond our shores, Mahatma
Gandhi and Nelson Mandela were also members of the bar.
The State Bar celebrates and encourages
lawyers in their role as public citizens, and it does so in a variety of ways.
Our Task Force on Admissions
Regulation Reform has recommended that 50 hours of pro bono work be required
for admission to the bar, which should help many get legal services who
otherwise could not afford it.
We also support the California Commission on Access to Justice, which has chosen four projects to receive grants to
enhance access to legal services for low- and moderate-income individuals. A total of $180,000 in commission grants has gone to a new Modest
Means Incubator program that funds the training of young lawyers to create
sustainable law practices providing affordable legal services. On June 9, the
Los Angeles Incubator Consortium hosts an event to introduce the 10 inaugural
participants or “new solos” and to launch the new initiative.
Through its Office of Legal Services, the State Bar also
supports the Campaign for Justice, which helps nearly 100 nonprofit organizations
throughout California provide legal aid to hundreds of thousands of individuals
every year. The campaign has just received
unprecedented support from the Episcopal Church, which is asking clergy to address
the need to fund legal aid agencies in sermons and weekly newsletters. Similar
assistance from other religious groups is also being sought.
Moreover, the State Bar’s
Board of Trustees passed a resolution last month recommending more funding for
legal aid for the indigent. And we are seeking ways to boost funding for the
Client Security Fund, which provides financial support from licensing fees for
those defrauded by their lawyers. Thus, the good members of the profession are
paying for losses generated by a few bad members.
To promote diversity, the State
Bar is developing a program similar to one working at Northwestern University
School of Law to improve the pass rate on the bar exam, especially for minority
and disadvantaged law students.
Also, the State Bar has
convened a task force to find ways to provide mentoring and practical
education programs for new members of the profession.
The State Bar is also supporting
civics education, including a program to have elementary school children visit
the courts and learn what goes on there by putting on a mock trial.
And the State Bar has been
holding a series of town halls across the state with other government agencies to
help prevent fraud against seniors, veterans and immigrants—the three most groups
most commonly preyed upon.
“First thing we do, let’s
kill all the lawyers!” Many of us are familiar with this line from Shakespeare’s
Henry VI, Part 2 that is often quoted to bash lawyers, but some may not know
that in context, it actually has the opposite meaning. When in a violent
revolt, Dick the Butcher, the henchman of the rebel leader says, “let’s kill
all the lawyers,” he’s saying that lawlessness triumphs when lawyers are
absent. Most scholars agree that Shakespeare here is implying that lawyers are guardians
of the rule of law who stand in the way of a violent mob.
During my presidency, I have
used the bully pulpit to celebrate and encourage the important and positive
role lawyers play in our society. Please join me this year in tooting our own
horn.