Disoriented

The DC NLG Disorientation was great. I didn't take copious notes, but it's just always great to get to talk to and learn from lawyers who are in the trenches everyday fighting what I see as the good fight.

The keynote was by distinguished civil rights attorney John Brittain of the Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights. He's also the former president of the NLG, and former Dean of Thurgood Marshal School of Law. He presented three propositions on which lawyers with conscience should base their careers:

1. Human rights are superior to property rights
2. “A lawyer is either a social engineer or a parasite on society,” and “I'd rather die fighting on my feet, than live begging on my knees.” (Both quotations attributed to Charles Hamilton Houston.)
3. “Tell no lies and claim no easy victories.” (Attributed to Amilcar Cabral.)

We had a good discussion about these propositions with a bit of controversy over whether John Roberts is a social engineer or a parasite. Mr. Brittain spent much of last week helping people prepare to testify at the Senate confirmation hearings for Roberts so he knows a thing or two about the nominee; he gave a 5-minute bio of Roberts that was pretty eye-opening, concluding, basically, that Roberts gives every indication of being a Rehnquist protege who will do what Rehnquist did, which is take every opportunity he gets to dismantle civil rights advances and protections. Scary. But that's why I argued that Roberts is actually a social engineer—just an engineer for the dark side trying to build a society that “we” (those of us at the Disorientation, certainly) don't want. Being a social engineer is not in itself a good thing; it's a sword that can cut both ways. Still, either is probably better than being a parasite, and I don't think that requires much explanation.

We also heard some interesting thoughts from solo practitioner Thomas Ruffin, including:

• Once you graduate and pass the bar, there's no difference btwn you and any other lawyer. You can go into court for anybody else in the jurisdiction where you've been admitted to practice law. A corporation, George Bush, the richest capitalist, the governemtn—these cannot go to court for others. They can go to court for themselves, but not for others.
• Never succumb to an employment situation that compromises what you want to do in your practice. You can always practice law. Never feel you cannot quit a job and go to another job. As long as we are admitted to a bar, in good standing, even if we have to practice in the homeless shelter where we're living, we can still practice law. [This is a cool idea; however, how many people in the homeless shelter have $150k in student loans to worry about?]
• There are a lot of things that can be accomplished in the realm of “people's lawyering.” Political prisoners need lawyers like you can be.
• About criminal law: If you practice criminal defense anywhere in this country, you'll see a lot of shysters.
• About losing: It can be a good lesson. It humbles you. Learn from it and redouble your energy for next time.

Finally, from Stephanie Joseph, a public defender in Prince George's County, MD (which has a higher murder rate than DC), I learned this old saying: “State's attorneys are cops in suits, judges are cops in robes.” Like many sayings it's not technically true, but maybe not bad to keep in mind...

Posted September 18, 2005 08:18 PM | 3L