Lawyers Are Not Given Proper Respect

Lawyers Are Not Given Proper Respect

Here is the oath taken by all lawyers. I do solemnly swear (or affirm):I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of ; I will maintain the respect due to courts of justice and judicial officers; I will not counsel or maintain any suit or proceeding which shall appear to me to be unjust, nor any defense except such as I believe to be honestly debatable under the law of the land; I will employ for the purpose of maintaining the causes confided to me such means only as are consistent with truth and honor, and will never seek to mislead the judge or jury by any artifice or false statement of fact or law; I will maintain the confidence and preserve inviolate the secrets of my client, and will accept no compensation in connection with my client's business except with my client's knowledge and approval; I will abstain from all offensive personality, and advance no fact prejudicial to the honor or reputation of a party or witness, unless required by the justice of the cause with which I am charged; I will never reject, from any consideration personal to myself, the cause of the defenseless or oppressed, or delay any cause for lucre or malice; I will in all other respects conduct myself personally and professionally in conformity with the high standards of conduct imposed upon members of the bar as conditions for the privilege to practice law in this State (Lawyers Oath). That was the oath taken by all lawyers. Lawyers play a vital role in the preservation of society. A lawyer, as a member of the legal profession, is a representative of clients, an officer of the legal system and a public citizen having special responsibility for the quality of justice. As a representative of clients, a lawyer performs various functions. As an advisor, a lawyer provides a client with an informed understanding of the client's legal rights and obligations and explains their practical effects. As an advocate, a lawyer zealously asserts the client's position under the rules of the adversary system. As negotiator, a lawyer seeks a result advantageous to the client but consistent with requirements of honest dealings with others. As an evaluator, a lawyer acts by examining a client's legal affairs and reporting about them to the client or to others. In addition to these representational functions, a lawyer may serve as a third-party neutral, a nonrepresentational role helping the parties to resolve a dispute or other matter. However most people do not comprehend or want to believe that lawyers have a job that is necessary to the way our society is run. Without lawyers their would be segregation, limits on our privacy, unfit education, and so many more problems that people take for granted. While lawyers have an enormous positive impact on America, a large number of people think that lawyers are the problem with America. These people believe; that lawyers are liars, that lawyers take advantage of people and, that lawyers affect American citizens negatively. To dispel these misconceptions, lawyers positive impact on society will be recognized. As soon as all of the misconceptions of lawyers have been disproved it will be obvious that lawyers have a positive impact on society and should be honored for it. Basically lawyers are the most important part of American society, but they don't get the respect that they deserve. Lawyers have a direct impact on all of our lives. Issue's such as segregation, freedom of speech, education, and even abortion have all been taken to Supreme Court and tried by lawyers. "In Roe v. Wade the Supreme Court ruled that a woman has a constitutional right to an abortion during the first six months of pregnancy. Before this ruling, abortion was illegal in most states, except when the pregnancy endangered the woman's life"(). Although there are many cases that have had a direct impact on many people lives Roe v. Wade proves just how much lawyers have an impact on people. It proves this because the case was presented by a lawyer for an average person. While the lawyer was only doing his job of representing his client, he helped to further women's rights and privacy laws. In Brown v. Board of Education a lawyer proved that segregation violated the 14th amendment. It's because of that lawyer, the majority of American find the idea of segregation preposterous.

Another reason lawyers have a huge impact on society, is to ensure that the judicial system works and justice is served for all people. "As attorneys, we have the obligation to make sure that the system works, Ð'...that justice is done. We have faith in the system because it works. It works because we each play our roles appropriately"(Petty). Lawyers are the foundation of the judicial system. Lawyers should be thought of as the foundation, because lawyers have the burden of running the system. Not only do they have to represent their clients to the best of their abilities, but passionately also. Lawyers also have to make sure that all the codes of the judicial system are being followed, to ensure no one is affected negatively. Lawyers must represent all of their clients equally, even if they don't agree with their client. They do this to make sure that the judicial system stays in check. They should be respected for being able to push their emotions to the side to do their job to the best of their abilities. Lawyers are an enormous asset to our society. A lawyer is the reason 1 billion dollars was awarded to California public schools, "Jack LondenÐ'... is best known as plaintiff's counsel in Williams v. California, a class action settled in 2004 that provided $1 billion to repair decrepit schools, provided up-to-date textbooks and made other improvements"(The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America). It took a lawyers skills and knowledge of the law to get that money for public education. People need to understand that lawyers do things like that all of the time all lawyers are not money hungry that is a small number, but unfortunately there is corruption in all professions. The majority of lawyers help people and it is the majority who should be thought of when thinking of lawyers.

What is arguably the most common misconception about lawyers is that lawyers are liars. When in reality " lawyers are not liars. Lawyers are there to interpret the law. They look at the facts of the case and juxtapose the facts against the principles of the law"("Lawyers as Liars"). Lawyers take needed evidence then use the law to prove their point. Lawyers can take the most trivial information and make a spectacular argument from it, which makes people assume that since what they thought to be insignificant was argued by the lawyer to be important the lawyer must be lying. Lawyers do