Like creative arts and the unprogrammable elements of the emotions and sentient essence of what it means to be human, law and legal rules distinguish us from beasts, other living things and the mindless, soulless machines and monsters that people invent, enable or imagine.
In other words, law matters.
Tens of thousands of years ago cave dwellers blew pigment onto their hands to make stencils of their fingered appendages on rock walls. For just as long, communities of people have embraced law — shared rules for coexistence.
Since the origins of society, law has made it possible for people to live together in communities, sharing responsibilities in relative peace and harmony while dreaming and working to improve their lives.
Law’s enduring role in human progress
What law has promised throughout history it has delivered, although imperfectly. Law has always been the indispensable foundation of civilization and engine of progress. At least since ancient Greece, aspirations for democracy have depended on justice under the rule of law.
Today in our difficult times, learning about and using law can once again lift us from fear, mediocrity and forced conformity and help us overcome our shortcomings.
Our alienation is fueled by toxic social media, political discord at home and abroad and threats to our health, safety and the well-being of the planet we share. Personal isolation, made worse by the pandemic, lingers still. Yet lawyers can offer solace. They restore the art of association, solve problems and generate hope for a better world.
The irreplaceable skills of the legal profession
Lawyers wield the most powerful tool humans have ever known: a legally trained mind. With it they can inspire, console, guide, defend and protect individuals, businesses, government and organizations.
Lawyers build bridges between chasms of disagreement, promote economic growth and opportunity, and advocate vigorously yet peacefully for what is right. In addition to doing well themselves, they are also expected to do good.
Whether they are judges, public officials, prosecutors, defense counsel, family lawyers, solo practitioners, advocates for unpopular causes, drum majors for justice, successful corporate counsels like Abraham Lincoln, or they themselves become business executives, sports agents, educators or enter any of the myriad fields outside of the formal practice of law where legal education is advantageous, all law graduates can and should advance the public interest.
Clarence Darrow’s warning still resonates today
Lawyers will be needed until the world is perfect. Clarence Darrow, who is widely credited with being the greatest American trial lawyer of all time, observed, “As long as the world shall last there will be wrongs, and if no one objected … those wrongs would last forever.”
Darrow’s life (1857-1938) spanned the rupture of America’s Civil War through the Reconstruction era; the nation’s tumultuous emergence as a world power in an age of discovery; disruptive technological advances; imperialism; exploitation; conflict including World War I; mass migration; economic strife of the Great Depression; the rise of communist and fascist totalitarian regimes; and cascading movements struggling for equal opportunity, justice and freedom. Sound familiar?
Every generation believes its challenges are unprecedented. Without question the second half of the 20th century that baby boomers lived through and the first quarter of the 21st have been more complicated than a joy ride in a pink car through Barbieland.
In truth, at present there is plenty of work for good lawyers to do, and there always will be. The demand for well-prepared lawyers is as strong as ever. It should not be surprising that the number of people applying to law school is increasing.
Law schools prepare students for constant change
The good news is U.S. law schools are rapidly prioritizing how best to improve legal education. In a world where the only constant is continuously accelerating change, increasing complacency and conventional thinking are not dominating the culture of legal education. This is because these things are the enemy of their future. Data-driven strategic adjustments of the curriculum and experimenting with and developing better ways to transmit knowledge and afford practical training are prudent and essential.
Beyond the fundamentals, U.S. law schools are focusing on prep for leadership, teamwork, uncertainty, adaptability and meaningful service. They aim to prepare graduates for the world as we know it as well as promote lifelong learning skills that equip students with the knowledge and critical thinking needed for disruptive changes. This includes ensuring graduates are ready not only for “a job,” but also for any job that fits their abilities and interests, as well as any new jobs, careers or challenges that do not yet exist.
This purposeful self-improvement of legal education is the key to continuing American law schools’ excellence. Some people say America does not make anything anymore. Not so: it still makes the best lawyers in the world.
Understandably, faculty, staff and students are troubled and distracted by the seeming hopelessness of the many upsetting issues of our times. They may feel like our world is falling apart as if there will be no tomorrow. They worry about their own safety and the suffering of others. It is important for educators to remind academic communities — without downplaying the seriousness of contemporary problems — that the world has always been full of troubles and it always will be. They also should help people to be mindful of the purpose and the opportunity they will have to use what they are learning to make the world better. After all, academic institutions have been field hospitals for what ails society. In other words, it’s important to spotlight that the work of people in law school communities is important and useful.
A calling that asks: If not you, then who?
Clarence Darrow was driven by his belief that “True patriotism hates injustice in its own land more than anywhere else.” Those studying law will discover many other different inspiring role models and learn about how many rewarding ways a J.D. degree can lead to success in the service of others.
When deciding whether to prepare for this necessary and honorable life’s work, the most relevant question for anyone considering law school may be: If not you, then who?
Nick Allard is the founding dean of Jacksonville University College of Law. Previously he was president and dean of Brooklyn Law School. Throughout his career in government service, as a senior partner in some of the world’s most respected law firms and as an innovator in higher education, he has been deeply involved in policy, politics and the effect of new technology on society, law and policy.
