The Pursuit of Wealth and the Justice System

Introduction

“Most lawyers are like most everyone else – they don’t take the trouble to learn anything other than what puts money into their pockets.” – Tharaud in Cerriere’s Response

This is a damning condemnation of society in general, but especially of those who are entrusted with the pursuit of justice. Most lawyers enter the profession saying they want to help people or make a difference, and they are counted upon to do so. However, the majority end up working for firms where their only concern is to win whatever case is put before them regardless of the social costs of winning that case or the opportunity costs of not taking on others. Individual goals and notions of serving the common good are exchanged for making money for the firm and enjoying a share of the profits. How do lawyers find themselves in this position? The answer seems to be that this is what successful people do. It’s hardly a stretch to say that those who become lawyers have an interest in being “successful.” It is a career that requires a large initial investment of time and money, and which ultimately rewards its professionals with status, prestige, and affluence. But is there any reason to believe that the actions which the profit motive incentivizes necessarily coincide with those that further justice or benefit society? If not, then these successful lawyers may be viewed as part of a thriving commercial enterprise, but neither they nor their prestigious films should not be mistaken for symbols of a successful justice system.

The Draw of the Big Law Firm

The Columbia law student on the eve of EIP will most likely decide to participate despite the fact that the employment opportunities available there bear no resemblance to the goals and aspirations in their personal statement. One factor influencing this decision is the mere fact that this is what most people do. While this is hardly a solid reason for any course of action, this is familiar motivation for students at a prestigious law school. After all, you don’t make it to a top 5 school without being an expert in doing what you’re supposed to do and doing it well. These are the kids who followed directions and colored inside the lines: the kids who led the way, but only down the well-trodden paths of student government and debate teams. If the possibility of going against the grain enters the mind at all, it’s far too unsettling to sustain.

Also influential is the glittering promise of an impressive career. All those years of straight As and extracurriculars and community service will finally be rewarded with a hefty salary and business cards your parents can be proud of. When your designer heels step out of your porche and click down the marble hallway of the firm, you’ll feel important, successful, and satisfied.

Then there is the fear. Casting the widest net of all and scooping up even the most devoted would-be environmental or human rights lawyers. The massive debt of law school drives so many of us straight through the firm’s door with that common explanation “I’ll work for a firm for a few years to pay off my loans and then do what I really want to do.” The problem, of course, is that sometime before that 3rd year the golden handcuffs are silently slipped on your wrists and sure they’re a bit snug, but they look good and besides, you’re used to them now. It’s time to leave but do you remember what you really wanted to do, and if so, do you still care? Or has that firm job, which was meant to provide a means of paying back loans and a means of earning a comfortable living, replaced the ultimate end of helping people or making a difference and become the end in and of itself?

Consequences and Alternatives

Herein lies the problem when a lawyer takes a firm job in order to pay back loans, or because it’s what successful people do, or because it’s what most people do. A career at a standard big firm is good for all these things, but it will not save the environment or your civil liberties. A firm will not deploy its army of lawyers to fight for any cause that isn’t overtly profitable, and if this is how the brightest minds and greatest legal resources are used, there are serious consequences for the justice system. As a result of this phenomenon, one of the most important and potentially influential professions is stripped of its best players and power to do good. The pursuit of justice becomes an afterthought or a side project, completely eclipsed by the career at the firm, or burnout and exodus from the profession altogether. The lawyer who went to law school in order to help people or make a difference is instead looking at the career as a comfortable living or a prestigious job title and nothing else. Such a result is perfectly acceptable for those with MBAs, but a JD cannot be for this.

To be a lawyer is to take on a responsibility and along with that diploma comes a duty. You join the ranks of those trusted by the public to ensure that the truth is sifted out from somewhere between two sides of an argument and that justice is done. This is justice for all, and for all equally, regardless of power or wealth. Lawyers must find a way to solve the problems that need solving not just those that fill out the payroll. Justice is a common good in the same way that police is a public service, and any other concerns must be secondary. For lawyers, the pursuit of wealth can be a means to that end, or it can be an additional end, but it cannot be the only end.