Biyerem Okengwu Professor Moglen Law In Contemporary Society

The Jekyll and Hyde Components of the Legal Profession I. Intro The training of future lawyers is made up of the duality of two contrasting forces. The first of which is trying to educate legal scholars who will go into the world with the proper legal morals and sense of justice to best serve their clients and the general population at large; we will refer to this as the Jekyll component of the legal profession. The second component, which we will refer to as the Hyde component, is the draining of these “future lawyers” of as much economic capital as possible prior to graduation driving them to seek mainly capitalistic endeavors. But is it possible for the two components to coincide as well reach their own specific goals? II. What is the problem? Law schools pride themselves on thinking that they are instructing Jekylls, passionate and client loving individuals, to go into the world. In reality they are sending Hydes, selfish, money hungry individuals, into society to fix our nation’s legal issues. I think back to my personal statement and wonder how it was possible for me to have been so quickly derailed from my passionate goals or helping some weak unrepresented group. Now perhaps being canned meat does not seem quite so bad, at least just for a little bit. I can help my group of choice for the time being with the simple signing of a check. Have I given up on who I am and what I stand for? Have I lost sight of my personal goal and only seeking economic ones now? I feel more the pressures of paying off the large amounts in student loans I have accumulated than the pressure to stay the course one would believe I was on by reading my personal statement.

1. Subsection- Law institutions cannot expect law students to graduate and go rain justice and legal morality on society when their movements are being restricted by the chains of capitalism. As a law student I do not feel as if I am being taught to be the best lawyer I can be. I do not even feel as if I have the ability to direct the path of my legal career. Can I really go and start a practice and feel comfortable that I would be able to pay back six figures worth of loans before the creditors come banging on my door? Those are the questions currently on my mind rather than how best can I serve a future client. Law students are being told that they should uphold a sense of legal morality and justice but at the same time are indirectly being taught that all that matters at the end of the day is their ability to amass a large amount of money in a short amount of time. As the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde illustrate, the two cannot coincide with some destructive results. Can we really blame Wendy Howell for backdating stock options for Steve Jobs? Would we all be as admirable as Robinson from Lawyerland?

III. Why it is happening I am being educated to be a money hungry behemoth. Passion will always overcome reason when the passion has sufficiently heated the blood and our inner Hyde comes out. When a six-figure loan meets a bright-eyed young scholar who once thought they would use their law degree to save some unrepresented neighborhood or population, unfortunately the loan tend to win out. The inherent problems of the second component of the legal profession have become more prevalent in our now weak economy. With the scarcity of jobs in the public sector and government many who even wanted non private sector jobs cannot find them. All too often you hear a soon to be law school graduate tell the tale of how he or she will go to a big law firm only to practice for a couple of years till their loans are paid off. All too often you hear a senior associate tell the tale of how they planned on practicing for just a couple of years but it was too hard to walk away from the money and the lifestyle they were accustomed to living. All too often you hear a used to be lawyer who quit the profession of law all together because they did not enjoy the life they lived while at a big law firm. The legal profession has become one best titled “Big Law or Bust”. IV. Problem reaches farther than expected One could argue, but wait if I do manage to get into the public sector my loans will be paid off after a number of years have elapsed. But even a lawyer who goes into government or the public sector still drags along a heavy ball labeled “capitalism.” Stereotypically they tend to be happier creatures, whose inner Hydes are kept at bay by possibility of their loans being graciously lifted of their heads by some higher being. They are not chasing after money to pay any pressing bills but it is easy to see that they are still nonetheless stuck in these positions. If these individuals were to wake up one day and think that their true calling was working at an investment bank and leave the public sector, they would quickly realize the federal government is unforgiving when it comes to bills owed. V. Conclusion The desire to want to practice in Big Law is not a characteristic that should be looked down upon by anyone. This paper is merely to attest to the fact that the law school system is directing the majority of its students towards Big Law. It simply is not for everyone. Everyone will not find happiness in that area of law. The current legal system is creating more unhappy lawyers that find themselves practicing in areas they lack interest in.

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-- By BiyeremOkengwu - 25 Feb 2013

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