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> | Draft 2: Developing My Personal Lawyer's Theory of Social Action
The “why”
I learned about climate change as an Environmental Studies Major, and I have been saddled with existential dread ever since. After undergrad, I dove into climate activism as a grassroots organizer. Initially a source of inspiration, this experience quickly became an exercise of screaming into the void for minimum wage. I understandably felt helpless, because we are nearing the point of no return. Individual action won’t cut it. We need rapid, sweeping societal change. Collecting signatures with the hopes of giving a corporation a slap on the wrist for willfully destroying the planet felt futile, because it is. So what could the solution be? I eventually landed on an answer: laws. New laws. Effective enforcement of existing laws. Or at least this premise is what motivated me to apply to law school. Now I’m not so sure. I have undeniably undergone a recent period of disillusionment when it comes to law, but why do my instincts tell me to stay? Despite the collapse of my preconceived notions, this now-familiar refrain remains true: lawyers make things happen in society using words. I still believe that the law is the best tool I have to fight climate change, albeit a much more flawed tool than I initially thought. My task is to try and use my new and evolving understanding of the law to draft a lawyer’s theory of social action for myself.
Specifics: how
I would rather not contribute to “transcendental nonsense,” but I must partake in legal logic games if I want to win victories in court. To avoid getting lost in the struggle to make circular arguments more persuasively than my opponent, I must remember that judges carry their own lifetime of prejudices that guide their decision-making; preparing for litigation should include research on the judge for strategic issue framing. To change the system from within, policy arguments should be highlighted in briefs and oral advocacy in protest against the preference for doctrine. The policy reasons for fighting climate change are unmatched; it only aids the opponent to force arguments into the sterile confines of legal doctrine. The legal benefits of spending time in court are twofold: small but frequent victories build the momentum necessary to any watershed case, and frequent losses are a prerequisite to any successful social movement. That said, lasting change will not result from strictly legal success. I will collaborate with organizers to determine legal priorities and strategically use litigation as a forum to bring media attention to the cause. Outside of the courtroom, I will provide legal services to participants in civil disobedience. Networking with the people in power to achieve the desired policy changes will be essential, and even more effective will be getting one of our own elected so that our campaign goals can have a constant seat at the table.
Specifics: who
Building a network is essential to starting any practice, and at an institution like Columbia, this requires particular strategy for the public interest-minded student. This year, I learned the value of taking every opportunity to make connections in the environmental community. Moot court was my first step in forming relationships with Professor Gerrard, Lloyd, and Amron, whose wisdom will be key to planning any environmental practice. I now need to take the next step to cultivate these relationships as I did with Gerrard via a zoom discussion about international environmental law last week. I joined the public interest fellowship program this spring, which has already presented unique opportunities to meet with alumni in the environmental field and elsewhere. Moving forward, I will prioritize finding professors that aren’t environmental but who share my priorities and outlook on the world; I know I need help keeping my boomeranging idealism-to-despair in check. Similarly, leaving the law school bubble to make connections at other schools like SIPA or Mailman will provide useful perspective and exposure to different possibilities for my personal practice, especially given the multidisciplinary nature of environmental work. Even within the environmental field, I hope to create a diverse network; I intend to form connections and gain work experience with people from NGOs, federal government, local government, environmental firms, academia, etc. Finally, forming connections with like-minded students is also a priority for me, and I am hopeful that my friendships will progress from the virtual world to real life in the fall. For all I know, my go-tos for ranting about the flaws of CLS could be my practice partners in the future.
Specifics: how much
I don’t yet have much to say about “how much,'' aside from my rough estimates for a comfortable salary for myself. In an ideal world my starting salary would be around $70k after graduation and I would eventually reach around $150k-200k. These numbers will vary depending on where I choose to live. My biggest mental block about starting my own practice is admittedly the fear of being unable to master the funding. Finding out how to sustain a business, my personal salary, and the salaries of my employees feels very intimidating. My instinctual response to this unknown is to go work for a nonprofit where someone else is doing the fundraising, and my experience fundraising door-to-door has not helped my hesitation in that regard. However, this apprehension isn’t exactly logical given that I could make more money running my own practice, on top of the flexibility that it would offer. Gaining confidence in my ability to manage the financials will likely be the key to whether I ever take the leap of faith to go off on my own.
Brief Conclusion
Ideally my theory will ultimately be an all-encompassing understanding of how the world works and a corresponding legal theory, but developing a comprehensive understanding of the innerworkings of society is a big feat. I hope I have successfully laid the groundwork by identifying a few specific legal tactics to effect societal change, concrete networking goals for my next two years, and some preliminary brainstorming regarding “how much.” | | |
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