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| | | Before law school, the only lawyers I had ever seen in my life were those stereotypically portrayed in movies. There, the "phenotype" of a lawyer is very much similar to that detailed by Day in "All Great Problems Come From the Streets:" overconfident liars with expensive coats. Since starting at Columbia, I can say I have met a few lawyers made of this phenotype but also a few others that have been surprisingly different. I volunteer with an asylum clinic offered by pro bono lawyers at Davis Polk and they definitely do fit the style of lawyer that Day described on the metro. Narcissists and egomaniacs to say the least. Before COVID-19 was taken seriously, the other members of the clinic and I usually met once a week with the Davis Polk lawyers in their offices. We used to walk into the meeting room and the lawyers would not even look at us to say hello. They were constantly on their phones or talking amongst themselves. Then, we would all sit around a table and one of the lawyers would start giving a presentation. The presentation would end and there would still be no recognizance of our existence. They would say that we will meet again next week and walk out of the door with their phones in their hands. Though, I refuse to believe that this is the phenotype of all lawyers. I agree with Day in that there is an ethical obligation to serve clients and that not all public servants wish to continue the perpetuation of this stereotype. There are numerous professionals that are beacons of good lawyering, even though more often than not people are just "insolent and scared." These days I am more scared than anything else. As Moglen mentioned in class, the recession and depression make it difficult to think about the future. It has been difficult to learn in this immense wreckage because I have more worries than just simply going to class. My Cuban parents speak loudly and they are at home now at all times. Every time I turn on Zoom, I am petrified that my professor will hear them in the background. The vast majority of minority or low-income students do not have their own space or a quiet place to take a cold call.
Plus, there are outside dangers that my family and I now have to face. My partner's mother, father, and sister have been diagnosed with the virus. They are French, living in the north of France, and my partner and I knew that when he moved to the U.S. he would not see his family for at least a couple months. The immigration paperwork has taken longer than we expected but we figured that at any point in time, in case of an emergency, he could always take a flight to France. Now, however, there is no such option. Even if my partner wanted to go to France, he is blocked by all means and heads of state. This is a new reality that we have to live with because it is difficult to know that your closest family members have fallen ill but even worse that you are an entire ocean away from them. We are constantly worried about them and checking on their medical results but, in the meantime, I have to sit for cold calls on Zoom. Yes, like Moglen said "the clownish gun to your head full of invisible bullets is gone," since grades are now pass/fail but I believe it is the innate perfectionism within me that does not allow me to miss class. I can see the drop in numbers of students participating but I have consumed the institutionalized rules and norms around me. I still feel like the gun is there even when it is not. I have also noticed and detested how many students pretend to be nonchalant about law school, as if they no longer read their assignments nor pay attention in class, but it is all a front. The same students saying that they have not read are answering all the professor's questions perfectly about the reading. They are rushing to get assignments turned in on time, they are the first to respond to professor's emails, and the first to sign up for additional work. Where is the indolence that you were talking about? What happened to your emphasis on "well being" over school work? Liars. This is where the nation divided comes into play more than ever before. While some students have the luxury of sitting at home and only focusing on their schoolwork, others have to worry about the socio-economic factors tied to their "nation." "...one nation of unemployed, of those who have had abortions, another of those who haven't, and then, of course, all those nations comprised of those either of upwardly mobile or mobilely downward economic status." I think what upsets me the most is that even when we are learning in class, there is no way of knowing if you are doing well or not. There is no feedback that could help offset the disparities between students that are lagging behind and those that have been raised with a casebook in their hands. How are we supposed to be prepared for exams when we have just been reading cases all year and referencing legal theory? Where is the practical application of the black letter law that we have learned and are supposed to apply to real life practice? Why is it that we had more feedback in primary school on the knowledge of the colors but not on the knowledge of law? I am asking all of these questions without truly expecting a response because the answers are nonexistent. The answers will require larger systemic change that might not be feasible in the time that I am in law school. Personally, I am just upset because it seems to me that everyone is pretending to know what they are doing and that they put up this front and label it as "lawyering."
-- DaimirisGarcia - 05 Apr 2020 | |
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April 12, 2020 Journal Entry #3:
Martha Tharaud is a tough woman. Her passion for labor law and employment rights is undoubtable. I was as surprised as she was by the author's question: "have you been aware of the fact that you are a woman?" I don't think it is possible to be ignorant of that fact, especially when you see how you are treated differently from the rest based on your gender. In my position, not only is my gender a contestation for unequal treatment but also my skin color. For Martha, it was her religion as well. If only we highlighted the differences amongst us and praised them for their individuality and uniqueness. Instead, we stigmatize and discriminate that which seems "different." However, these days are quite different than the rest because we are equally in fear of a gender-less, race-less, and ethnicity-less virus. We are all equal in the eyes of ecology. Though, as Moglen mentioned, this virus does seem to be "unjust." It has ravaged heads of states and vocational workers alike. Even the prime minister of the UK has not been immune. However, the virus is unequally affecting minorities because of the underlying socio-economic inequality associated with being a minority. African Americans, Native Americans, and Latinos are more likely to have the underlying preconditions that put them at higher risk of complications from COVID-19 - diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, etc. Minorities are less likely to have access to regular medical care, live in neighborhoods with easy access to fresh food, and afford the medical treatments necessary. Now, minorities are being put on the front lines as "essential workers" and their service jobs are requiring them to show up at workplace and raising the risk of exposure. However, I really appreciated something that Moglen said in class: "the truth will set us free; justice and truth are not the same. The truth can be a weapon against injustice." Martha mentioned that "truth exists somewhere between what you can prove and can't." This is how lawyering works at the end of the day and this is how we can still find justice for those that are suffering from COVID and from the greater socio-economic disparities in American society. I did come to law school because of that drive against injustice. My grandparents and parents were stripped of their lands, they lost their businesses, they lost their source of income, they lost their fruits and vegetables, and they lost their homes. All in the name of Castro's communism. There is nothing more unjust to me than growing tomatoes in your backyard to feed your children and, one day, a government official takes your tomatoes and ruins your soil with the intention that you never plant tomatoes again. Something so small as tomatoes can stir a revolutionary fight into these small-town farmers that are dying of hunger. Just look at what Dudley and Stephens did in the high seas. These stories are repeated over and over again to each generation of youth and the revolutionary spirit lives on. It is true that the life of the revolution comes at a detriment to progressive policies and diplomacy. But, somewhere behind that revolutionary spirit is the fight to find justice. I like to believe that that is what I will be doing as a lawyer. Fighting injustice and fighting for those that do not have any resources or means to fight. As Moglen says "the meaning of your practice is absent if you are not seeking out injustice." I also agree that dangerousness comes from invisibility, from observing how it works, collecting information and understanding outcomes as a function of how people use their social interactions. That is how we exercise leverage in society. I have taken this approach in everything I do, especially in law school. I typically sit back and observe. I gather information about what other students are like, where I fit in, and what they want to hear and when the moment is right, I attack. This method has never backfired on me before even though I have been criticized for being too quiet or being too shy. In reality, I am just gathering information and I have no reason to be the "outgoing, over enthusiastic, and charming" girl you want me to be. Sometimes I might take too long and the moment is gone, yes I admit. But other times the moment is just right.
-- DaimirisGarcia - 12 Apr 2020 | | |
March 28,2020 |
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