The Poor Public Image of Lawyers - Coursework Example

The Poor Public Image of Lawyers The legal profession has attracted some of the most highly regarded individuals in contemporary history, including notable statesmen like Sir Thomas Moore, Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela and Bill Clinton. However, few will deny that the profession also suffers from a poor public image. This essay will discuss the popular image of lawyers and the legal profession across the globe and explore why this image does not always conform to the highest possible standards. As popular perceptions do not always reflect reality, this essay will explore the extent to which the image of lawyers reflects the reality of their practice, attitude and function. Finally, some light will also be shed on what steps have been taken to improve the poor public image of lawyers, and what more requires to be done. When the Gallup Organisation conducts its annual survey of professions, the American public consistently ranks nursing as the most honest and ethical profession. Other medical professions are also highly regarded. The legal profession, on the other hand, finds itself close to the bottom of the list- after car salesmen, HMO managers, insurance salesmen, advertising executives and stockbrokers! Indeed, only 16% of all those surveyed rate the honesty and ethics of lawyers as ‘high’.1 There is perhaps no singular reason for this poor public image, but is rather based on a collection of some misconstrued facts about lawyers and the work they do. One factor that contributes to the poor public image of lawyers is the hefty salary many of them take home. With six figure salaries not being uncommon amongst lawyers in the UK and around the world, they are perceived as greedy and gluttonous. While lawyers have generally been generously paid, it is only in recent times that law firms’ profit and lawyers’ salaries are published for all to see.2 Resentment of the privileged in society is not uncommon, especially when they are not seen to give back enough through charity or pro bono work. A related cause of the poor public image of lawyers is the limited availability of Legal Aid funding.3 Indeed, the high fees charged by lawyers deny many of the less privileged access to quality legal advice and representation in the absence of some form of public funding. However, not only is this funding limited, but it also fails to guarantee access to the most competent lawyers- many who undertake legal aid work are underpaid and therefore under-committed to their clients. This contributes to the perception of lawyers as uncaring and driven by money alone. Another related complaint against lawyers is that they are always pressed for time, perhaps seeking to make as much money in a day as possible. As a result they rarely return calls and avoid meeting their less lucrative clients.4 Lawyers are commonly referred to as ‘opportunistic’, looking to profit from other people’s misfortunes, accidents and difficulties. This perception is fuelled by regular advertisements by personal injury lawyers offering no-win-no-fee services to entice potential clients. Indeed television advertising went from near-zero in the 1970’s to hundreds of millions of dollars worth today.5 As advertising soared, so did public perception of the profession. Unfortunately for the profession, this perception was often focused on the personal injury sector – one, which might be considered as being more opportunistic than others. The volume of personal injury litigation has been increasing ever since and it is no longer unheard of for a person to sue a major company over spilled coffee or a public house over a slip on their premises. It is unsurprising that the public views this frivolous litigation as a colossal waste of court’s time and money. In fact, Stephen Byers, a former Cabinet Minister, has complained that schools pay the equivalent of 8000 teachers’ salaries a year towards compensation and that the increase in the cost of claims against the NHS since 1974 could have paid for 22,700 new nurses. Local authorities have been forced to increase council tax to cover the cost of compensation payouts and the NHS is said to be buckling under the strain of litigation.6 With lawyers undertaking and perhaps even encouraging such litigation, it should come as no surprise that they suffer from a poor public image. People more often come into contact with a lawyer at a difficult time- perhaps during serious financial or family problems, or after being accused of a crime. Thus they are likely to harbour negative feelings towards them by association. Furthermore, litigation is often a zero-sum situation- one either wins or loses.7 There is, therefore, always the possibility that a losing party will become upset and blame his/her lawyer for the loss, even if the lawyer is not at fault. Lawyers owe a strict duty of confidentiality to their clients and must strive to achieve a successful outcome for their case. Lawyers also have to be morally neutral while they deal with clients- it is not our job to judge or criticise. Defendants in a criminal trial owe the same duties to their lawyers as the victim. However, many people see criminal defence lawyers as ‘immoral’, ‘opportunistic’ and worse as people who put the wider society at risk by facilitating an acquittal for a suspected murderer or rapist.8 Incidentally, criminal trials make for sensational television and are widely followed by the public, reinforcing the negative image of defence lawyers. For example, during the O.J. Simpson trial in the United States of America, defence attorney Johnny Cochran was widely blamed for what the public considered to be a miscarriage of justice. Many people complain of the law being too complicated and their rights too obscure and difficult to discover. Indeed a major part of modern legislation is incredibly long and technical and even the best of lawyers and judges struggle with its interpretation. The legal profession is often saddled with the blame for such complexities. This fuels the perception of lawyers as being manipulative. Another significant cause of the poor public image of lawyers is their poor depiction in the media of popular culture such as film, television and books. Prior to the 1980’s, the vast majority of lawyers in film were portrayed very positively. There was Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, Henry Drummond in Inherit the Wind and Paul Biegler in Anatomy of a Murderer. However, more recent movies have portrayed lawyers in less than flattering light. In The Verdict, for example, the plaintiff’s lawyer is a drunk who solicits business at funerals and impedes a malpractice case coming to trial. The defence lawyer attempts a number of dirty, unethical tricks and even attempts to bribe a witness. The examples of such characters in modern films are numerous. On television, the likes of Denny Crane on Boston Legal often make a mockery of the law. Things are not always any better in print either John Grisham’s widely read novels depict lawyers as greedy, dishonest scoundrels. This harsh treatment of lawyers and the legal profession in the media of popular culture moulds public perception. Psychological studies of the ‘cultivation effect’ show that in making quick judgements, people draw heavily on what they see and learn from film or television. Of course, this can work both ways- research shows that people who watched L.A. Law, a television series in which lawyers were portrayed in a positive, almost heroic light, had a more favourable opinion about lawyers than those who did not.9 While there is no doubt that lawyers suffer from a poor public image, the extent to which this image reflects the realities of the profession is more debatable. For example, although a common perception is that personal injury lawyers have, through advertising, contributed to an increase in frivolous litigation, in reality the number of personal injury claims has fallen in recent years. The Compensation Recovery Unit records indicate that while in 2003-2004 there were over 770,000 claims, this number fell to under 675,000 in 2005-2006.10 The image of lawyers as greedy individuals who do not give back to society may also be misjudged. Many large firms in the UK dedicate considerable resources to pro bono activity and the Advocates for International Development, based in the UK, coordinates large firms’ efforts to contribute to international development and poverty relief. 11 Nonetheless, misconceived or not, the poor public image of lawyers persists and this essay will now turn to the issue as to what can be done to counter this negative image. Bar associations across the world have already taken steps to counter the poor public image of lawyers. For example, in 2007, the Pennsylvania Bar Association began tackling the issue through three commercial campaigns that ran on popular television. The 30 second spots included a woman praising a lawyer for assistance in adopting a child; a man talking about how a lawyer protected the legal rights of his father suffering from Alzheimer’s; and a woman describing how her lawyer helped her secure a loan for a greenhouse business.12 Such adverts are intended to counter the image of lawyers as uncaring and driven solely by monetary considerations. The cost of placing such adverts is significant though and not all Bar Associations have found them effective. Writing from Michigan, Kimberly Cahill stated that there was little change in the image of lawyers after positive advertisements were run.13 No doubt, more can be done to improve the image of lawyers and the legal profession. Legal ethics could be included in all major courses at law school and more law firms could set a minimum number of hours to be spent, by each lawyer, on some form of pro bono activity. Furthermore, firms could place a greater emphasis on etiquette and training the lawyers to deal with all clients, lucrative or not, in a polite and attentive manner. More importantly, younger lawyers must be taught that there is a difference between zealous advocacy and boorish behaviour that puts clients off. To conclude, the nature of a lawyer’ occupation and remuneration is unlikely to place them amongst the most widely liked class of society. Proper training, more charity work and comprehensive ethics education may improve this poor public image, but it would be naive to expect too much of an improvement. Lawyers in the UK are well paid and will never attract popular affection in the same way that a charity worker or a nurse might do. In the eyes of popular opinion, lawyers sit near the top of the capitalist hierarchy, and whilst they may widely be respected as individuals, they will always find it difficult to be loved as a group. Read More