An Undisguised Musing

You’ve probably noticed by now that my entries typically fall into two categories. First there are entries that are purely informational, reporting on an event that I attended or one in which I was somehow involved. These are usually accompanied by a shameless attempt to slip in some veiled advocacy for some issue or population. But then there are other entries in which I simply muse about a topic of interest to me that is tangentially related to something I happened to do here at school. Usually these are the entries in which my shameless attempts to advocate are a little less veiled. I trust that I can count on you to indulge me while I muse.

I have a vague memory of myself at a young age, challenging my father’s decision to park directly in front of a clearly marked ‘no parking’ sign. In my steadfast refusal to violate a law that must have had some importance beyond my understanding, I folded my tiny arms and would not enter the building. My father initially attempted to reason with me, but quickly gave up and moved to a different parking spot.

This was not merely a childish desire to frustrate a father’s attempt to run a ‘quick’ errand. As far back as I can remember, I have had a deeply embedded reverence for the law and a special contempt for any open attempt to circumvent its boundaries. As a child, that was the extent of my understanding of justice, visceral and almost tangible, but extremely difficult to explain, as was my understanding of most things in life. As an adult, I still believe in the rule of law. But I have some to realize that justice and the rule of law are not always one and the same. Often one must trump the other and part of being an attorney is being prepared to make that choice. 

Through my experience with RWU Community Justice and Legal Assistance Clinic I get to do everything really lawyers do. I get to be a mediator, negotiator, or counselor in appropriate cases. I get to draft court documents, file motions and petitions and advocate in court, all under supervision of course. The experience has been a great one. But one of the things I have learned during my experience is that a “win” for your client may not always be the “just” outcome. This has been one of the least palatable lessons I have learned in law school. But it is a rather important question. Does my legal obligation to a client trump my moral obligation to do the “right” thing? Or are we all bound by a superseding duty to advocate for justice even at the expense of a client’s interests?

This is something that has pretty much monopolized my “introspective time” for the past few days. So I thought I would share it with you.