Knowledge

Saving Our Soul

It is so refreshing to hear that a successful business lawyer is still doing pro bono work. It's even more refreshing when he does it not because it's good for his reputation or his address book, but simply because the legitimate rights of people are jeopardised and he feels he can do something about that. I become overwhelmed when I discover that this is a standard among the partners of this lawyer's firm, although they will not trumpet in on their website.

As a partner says, "If I couldn't take at least one pro bono case every month, I would stop this job."That does not prevent them from being first class business lawyers advising board of directors on top legal issues. I am fully supportive of the efforts to manage firms and make them successful and profitable.  Considering a law firm as a business is a useful and relevant proposition.

I am even convinced that most laywers should invest more time and energy in managing their practice and looking at it from an entrepreneurial viewpoint. But there is also another dimension, another level, in the practice of law.  Lawyers are not just in a business, there are in a profession. The idea of a profession is that you don't just serve yourself, you serve a noble idea, a general interest. Being a medical doctor is not just about getting patients. It is also about health and life. Being a lawyer is not just about getting lucrative assignments; it is also about justice. I know that this idea will look totally naïve to many individuals and firms who couldn't care less, but what would you say if your medical doctor would laugh when you tell him that medical practice is about health?  In the current context, I find it very refreshing to meet lawyers and firms who still take the idea of justice seriously, and feel committed to this idea, even if it costs them a few billable hours. I salute these honourable men.

Antoine Henry de Frahan | 16 December 2007 |