A Different Side of the Law
I have encountered many different reactions to the notion of my being a law student. Although the reactions themselves tend to be varied, the underlying assumptions invariably fall into one of two categories. Actually most people probably make assumptions that fall into both categories, but usually a person only articulates one of the two. There is the customary joke about the likelihood of needing future legal representation, usually for a criminal offense (…so, that means you can get me off when I attack my boss! ). I have heard that one so many times that it is actually becoming difficult to make the obligatory chuckle sound genuine. And then there is the assumption that a law student will automatically make six figures and purchase a luxury sedan within the first year of passing the bar (don’t forget the little people when you’re making the big bucks!). I find this one troubling only to the extent that any measurement that equates success only with high income or upper class status implicitly relegates moderate income or middle class to the status of failure. And that’s not really fair, now is it?
The assumptions are that (1) everyone who goes to law school wants to practice criminal law, and (2) everyone who practices law is wealthy. Well, both assumptions are largely flawed. I hope no one is too disappointed by the news, but I would be betraying my dedication to candor if I were to represent otherwise. Since I have already said this so artfully in the bio you see to the right, I will merely repeat it; “Criminal prosecution and defense is one small segment of a very dense legal universe.” I will not belabor the point by listing all of the different areas of law, but suffice it to say that for every profession, lifestyle, situation, role, status, course of action, problem, obligation, or set of circumstances, there is a body of law that governs. And for every body of law, there is the possibility that a person may specialize in that body of law.
There are countless specialties within the legal profession. But they can all be placed in one of two categories, public interest law and private sector law. Private sector law is the type of law that will most likely lead to the outcome explicit in that second assumption. This is what we think of as Corporate Law. It brings to mind the image of an attorney with a briefcase in a high powered suit, probably talking on a cell phone and in a hurry to get wherever he or she is going. In all likelihood you would find this attorney working for a corporation or large business handling mergers and acquisitions.
Public interest law is different in almost every respect. These attorneys very infrequently wear a suit, most have probably never done a merger or an acquisition in their lives, and these attorneys make significantly less than six figures. But these are the attorneys who are fighting the social battles that are meaningful to the average citizen. Environmental Justice issues, civil rights issues, social security and disability issues, reproductive rights, voting rights, child advocacy, immigrant rights just to name a few.
The Feinstein Institute here at the law school presents a Public Interest Speaker series. Every few weeks, the Feinstein Institute hosts a speaker from one of these different fields who gives an address on one of these issues. In some cases they present a panel of professionals in a particular field, not all of whom are lawyers. I make it a habit to attend every time I can. Most recently there was a gentleman who came to speak about the Brown University Steering Committee on Slavery and Injustice. He shared with us some of the Committee’s findings on the relationship between Brown University, the Brown brothers and the slave trade here in Rhode Island. But I will tell you more about that later. Right now there is some schoolwork I have to get to.
