Preface

• Pages: 13-14

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Preface

  —or worse—about the legal profession have been

around for a long time. Think a bout the debate over the meaning of Dick

the Butcher’s famous line in Henry VI: “ The f‌irst thing we do, let’s kill al l the

lawyers.” For some, who likely have the better critical argument, the line

ref‌lects the common person’s distrust of and a ntipathy towards lawyers

and perhaps the law itself. For others, it shows that those bent on treach-

ery know that law yers provide an important defence again st tyran ny, a

defence that would-be tyrants must try to eliminate. Con sistent with the

f‌irst meaning, one often sen ses that lawyers are su spect in the minds of

many and that they a re often perceived as people who spend their time

“getting people of‌f on technicalities” or helping the powerful to ev ade their

responsibilities. But the altern ate meaning is not without its supporters.

Many also recogn ize that such stereotypes do not capture the aims of the

profession, its ideals, or the conduct of many of its members. Law yers, they

know, often defend the powerless, advocate for just causes, and work for

the betterment of their communities. T hese views of the profession that

have been teased out of Dick the Butcher’s famous line—that the profes-

sion is either a leach on society or a bastion agai nst tyranny—are never far

from any discussion about law yers and lawyering. Indeed, it seems t hat

many people think t here may be an element of truth in both views.

But do people generally know what the profession stands for, what its

role is or should be in society, and how lawyers either live up to or fail to