What does lawyer represent Essay Example

What does lawyer represent Essay At present, legal profession is considered as one of the most lucrative careers in society. It consumes a considerable amount of money and requires devotion on the said course. Moreover, it is a profession that entails high intelligence and constant confidence. A law student has to surmount the test of patience, endurance, and wit and has to pass the dreadful and grueling bar exam before he finally becomes a full-fledged lawyer. Most of all,lawyering is a complicated profession because it entails life, liberty and property of the party involved.In society, legal profession has thousands of students and their population has been steadily increasing for the past years. The profession appears very inviting because it promises something of great value than any profession in the society. Today, thousands of lawyers are loitering in the hall of justice. They appear confident and elegant with their clean and well- pressed coats. Their suitcases, which they carry with them most of the time, make them even more respectable and well off. Their offices also occupy a considerable area in the city.Meanwhile, in the present era, certain rules and laws govern human acts. Any act done in violation of that law or freedom constitutes a crime punishable by the said laws. The orderly means of implementing the laws and orderly applications of the punishment requires the service of the lawyer, among others. However, with the constant increase of lawyer’s population there is a doubt whether all the cases will be enough for them to handle. Some are even chasing potential clients such as victims of accidents, those suffering a disease due to an intake of a medicine or use of products, or even those insured, just to have clients. Despite the seemingly decreasing number of prospective clients, many are still pursuing law as their profession.Normally, a lawyer’s role in the society is to help in the search for justice. According to the article, Ethical Duties Owed by Lawyers , which was written by Silvio Auditore, a family law specialist, the lawyer has a duty to the law, to his client, and to the courts.Duty to the lawBased on the article, a lawyer, being an integral part of the administration of justice in our legal system, is bound to act within the law and uphold the law at all times.Duty to the clientAccording to Auditore’s article, lawyer is bound to act with honesty, fairness and confidentiality in protecting his clients’ interests. In addition, he is also bound to act with due diligence, reasonableness, courtesy and skill in representing his clients.Duty to the courtMoreover, a lawyer is duty bound to act with honesty, integrity, and candor in the presence of the judge and must not do things that will mislead the court. According to article, in practice, a lawyer is duty bound to represent a party in a case, whether the defendant or the petitioner, unless there is a conflict of interest. In addition, based on the article, a lawyerà ¢â‚¬â„¢s duty is not contained only within court cases because a lawyer can also represent a party without hearings by being an administrator of legal papers of a testator, deeds or documents which need only notarization. A lawyer also extends his expertise to those who needed legal advice.Thus, a lawyer’s existence in the society is indispensable. They are considered the agents of justice, defender of the defenseless, and the seeker of truth. Their role also bears a great responsibility for lawyers help in restoring truth, peace. and order in the society. Given the enormous and sometimes tiring responsibilities of the law profession, question on why do many still wish to be lawyer? What does the legal profession has to offer? What do they really represent?Lawyer represents money and rich peopleIn Herman Melville’s Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street, the author presented a lawyer who does no work as a typical lawyer. The lawyer in the story is the narrator himself, telling the story of his daily activities in his office and his daily discourse with his staff. In the story, it is implied that the narrator is an expert and had a significant experience in law by stating that he is an elderly man. The narrator had four staff members, namely, Turkey, Nippers, Ginger Nut, and Bartleby. They all have different personalities and mood but he likes them all for a variety of reasons. Turkey is an old man who is industrious in the morning but becomes idle in the afternoon. On the other hand, Nippers is Turkey’s opposite for he is idle in the morning but industrious and calm in the afternoon.   Ginger Nut is a law student who works in the lawyer’s office as a cleaner and sweeper while Bartbery is the lawyer’s scrivener. By definition, a scrivener is a writer or copyist. Moreover, based on Melville’s story, scriveners are part of the machinery of modern industry and commerce, educated to do tedious work. During the law yer’s daily routine, he or she lawyer usually sits with his scriveners and Turkey and Nippers to examine the papers they have prepared. When the lawyer called Bartbery to join with them, the latter replied â€Å"I prefer not to.† This statement was always the answer of Bartbery every time the lawyer has something to ask him. Time came when the lawyer fired and abandoned Bartbery because of the latter’s inaction and constant idleness. Bartbery was forcibly brought to a place where he was taken cared of but the lawyer continued to give support to Bartbery and even offered him other jobs other than a scrivener. However, Bartbery preferred not to and, one day, he died.The story left a moral lesson regarding the duty of the lawyer in the society. Notably, a lawyer’s duty is also to save a person convicted of a crime from further punishment if the accused has a reasonable defense and when the crime was really not executed by the accused. From the story it can b e assumed that the lawyer was not able to save scrivener from the discrimination of the society considering that a scrivener is no longer a labor for man but for a machine. Nevertheless, in the story, the lawyer showed concern by being considerate and being generous to Bartbery.In addition, the narrator presented a lawyer who revolved his life on money. According to the story, in the lawyer’s statement,â€Å"I am one of those unambitious lawyers who never addresses a jury, or in any way draws down public applause; but in the cool tranquility of a snug retreat, do a snug business among rich men’s bonds and mortgages and title- deedsIn other words, he stated that he is not a typical lawyer who simply shows up in court to represent or defend a client. Rather, he also earns his fortune through bonds, mortgages, and title deeds of rich men. He is also a lawyer who advocates on â€Å"the easiest way of life is the best,† which means he does not need to work like typi cal lawyers to earn money and it is also an understatement that his priorities are his life’s pleasure and security.   From the story, it can also be inferred that Bartbery is a victim of the social cycle wherein the less privileged are not given much attention. Furthermore, the narrator presented himself as an example of lawyer who works for money.Lawyer to represent the poorIn the society where there are thousands of lawyers, it can be hard to determine whether they work for money, power or for principle. However, it is possible that there are fewer lawyers who work for principle. In the story, Man the Reformer, the author, Ralph Waldo Emerson appeals to the society’s practice of discriminating against the poor people and the disregard for the existence of God. The story also said that justice can not be acquired without divine intervention. Moreover, in his work, Emerson stated:â€Å"The Americans have many virtues but have not Faith and Hope†¦The Americans have no faith. They rely on the power of a dollar; they are deaf to sentiment. They think you may talk the north wind down as easily as raise society; and no class more faithless than the scholars or intellectual men†.He also further stated† â€Å"The state must consider the poor man, and all voices must speak for him. Every child that is born must have a just chance for his bread. Let the amelioration in our laws of property proceed from the concessions of the rich, not from the grasping of the poor†. In relation to legal profession, the author has considered a normal practice in legal profession in which lawyers only represent those who have money while the poor is less represented. Due to this, justice is out-of-reach because poor people cannot afford the fees and cannot be even represented freely as their case are not among the lawyer’s priorities.Lawyer to represent principleIn the reading, Life Without Principle, which was written by Henry David Thore au, the author criticized the norms of the society wherein people exist only to work and work   because they are only thinking of how much money they could earn. In the story, Thoreau stated†Ã¢â‚¬Å"This world is a place of business. What an infinite bustle! I am awake almost very night by the panting of the locomotive. It interrupts my dreams. There is no Sabbath. It would be glorious to see mankind at leisure for once. It is nothing but work, work, work.†Going further, the author criticizes the society for being very busy engaging in work without much time to enjoy nature and looking into what a man could contribute to the humanity. He insisted that the aim of a worker is not to find big profit but to find job that he would enjoy and at the same time fulfill his purpose in the society. According to the story:  Ã‚   â€Å"The aim of the laborer should be, not to get his living, to get â€Å"a good job,† but to perform well in a certain work; and even in a pec uniary sense, it would be economy for town to pay its laborers so well that they would not feel that they were working for low ends, as for a livelihood merely, but for scientific, and even moral ends;†In relation, the author of the story further commented on the usual practice in courtroom;â€Å"I wondered if, when they got home, they were as careful to wash their ears as before their hands and faces. It has seemed to me, that the auditors and the witnesses, the jury and the counsel, the judge and the criminal at the bar, if I may presume him guilty before he is convicted—were all equally criminal, and a thunderbolt might be expected to descend and consume them all together.†In all the reading regarding the legal profession, it seems that lawyers, who are considered the intellectuals of the society, are very busy with their job not to help but to seek fortunes. It can be deduced that they are in the legal profession for money and for power. It is their means of getting rich by dealing with the rich. It has been said that lawyers are agents of justice because they are deemed to help in establishing the truth. Search for justice is such a delicate and complicated thing that a simple mistake can kill an innocent man and can free a real criminal. Thus, lawyers must perform their jobs with faith and act based on moral grounds. Moreover, the justice system shall not exclude those who are poor who cannot afford the service of an intelligent and powerful lawyer. Justice should always be served to the poor if they are deemed to have it.Furthermore, in the justice system, there are a number of lawyers who work for principle. They execute their job according to their oath and they serve the poor with no strings attached. However, these kinds of lawyers are not given much opportunity by the government. All said, no matter what these lawyers represent, in all cases, justice shall not be compromised for money, power or principle.Works citedEmerson, Wald o. 13 April 2008. â€Å"Man the Reformer.† Emersoncentral. 13 May 2008 http://www.emersoncentral.com/manreform.htm.â€Å"Ethical Duties Owed by Lawyers.† July 2006. Findlaw. 13 May 2008   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.findlaw.com.au/article/14934.htm.â€Å"Life Without Principle.† 2008. ITS Student Technology Collaborative. 13 May 2008   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   http://pantheon.cis.yale.edu/~thomast/texts/life.html.Merviell, Herman. 2008. â€Å"Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall- Street.† Virginia   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Commonwealth University. 13 May 2008.     Ã‚  Ã‚   http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/webtexts/bartleby/.â€Å"Scrivener†. 2008. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. 13 May 2008 http://www.merriam-  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   webster.com/dictionary/scrivener.