Why We Love Lawyers
- Edmund Thorold
- Mar 2, 2024
- 4 min read
Exploring the Legal Labyrinth: Unraveling the Enigma of Lawyers, Hocus-Pocus in the US Supreme Court, and the Entertaining Biases of the Justice System and the Rule of Law.
One of my favourite T-shirt designs is:
TRUST ME, I’M A DOCTOR
Is it meant to be a parody of a chat up line or poking fun at that august profession? The interesting thing is that I’ve never seen A T-shirt announcing,
TRUST ME, I’M A LAWYER
Now why is that? Could it be so far from the truth it would be like KFC asking for a Michelin Star? Well, after almost getting to the end of the US TV series “Suits” I’m still none the wiser.
But after decades of real life experience with them, one thing is for sure,
they’re no saints. Anymore than priests, doctors, police and so the list goes on.
We are somehow conditioned to place all these professions on a pedestal and associate a certain level of, let me be frank, moral superiority, that we plebs cannot even imagine. Never mind, it’s taken them umpteen years to get their qualification and their professions have so-called codes of conduct and regulatory control.
They’re really just like you and me. Grinding their way through life as best they can.
I shouldn’t really be picking on lawyers. I even studied law at college and find the application of it a fascinating intellectual exercise. Basically, a set of rules that you have to play by, or at least pretend you are playing by them, when you are actually bending or even breaking them with gay abandon. Often with the help of lawyers who make the suggestions on how you best do that.
Then, to justify their advice or, in the case of the judiciary,
their verdict, we become involved in so much hocus-pocus.
Don’t you love those words? There is so much implied meaning behind them and they have been around for centuries, first employed by magicians. Their origins remain unclear, but they are most likely some form of garbled Latin, ‘dog Latin’ some would call them.
But they infer an illusion or a meaningless distraction that tricks you in some way. Isn’t that what the law does, or what we call the ‘rule of law’ turns out to be?
Now where better to look for proof of this wild accusation, with no substance that I can reliably cite to back it up, than the US Supreme Court. The highest court of the most powerful democracy in the world. Surely they must have things done right?
Trouble is, the learned judges that are politically appointed
tend to come with, how to put this politely, a certain political
bias.
Why, you ask. Simply because when a free seat comes up, their nine person table, the next in line, is put forward by the US President’s office and surprise, surprise, the President tends to go with those who share his or her point of view. So right now, the Supreme Court has a six to three bias in favour of the ‘conservatives’.
They are now going to be tested to the limits of their credibility.
Will hocus-pocus come out on top, so they can argue that a spade is not a spade, or will their consciences kick in and they find for ‘the law’?
I mean, you don’t really have to be a lawyer to know what ‘the law’ would say on the matter of whether a US President enjoys immunity from it.
No man is above the,
whether it be the law of man, or as the Pope would add, the
law of God.
At least the Supreme Court only has to concern themselves with the laws of man. Maybe that’s a good thing.
Hocus-pocus spoiler alert.
So the US Supreme Court has said it will decide whether ex-President Trump is immune from being prosecuted on charges of trying to overturn the 2020 election. A US Court of Appeal has already rejected Donald’s argument.
But the Supreme Court taking the case can be interpreted as a victory for the former president, as it will probably delay his trial until after November’s presidential election.
And who knows what might happen then?
One has to ask, who judges the judges?
The answer is very simple, we do.
And it’s not only in the US that the legal system looks to favour the rich and powerful. Across every Western democracy I can think of, one sees much the same thing. Is that the fault of the lawyers?
No, not really. It’s our fault, or at least our political representatives who play fast and loose with the law for their own purposes, often making a mockery of it.
So back to the leading question, ‘why do we love lawyers’. Well, the answer has to be not only are they a breed apart, but they are a constant source of entertainment, whichever team they are batting for.
When I have finally finished the very last episode of Suits, I’ll get back to you with epilogue, but yeah... for now, I still love lawyers, warts and all.
The antics of the US Supreme Court will be watched with interest.
Let’s remember that ‘the law is an ass’, not an ass in the
sense that Americans use it, but the old-fashioned name for
a donkey,
Which gave us the pejorative adjective ‘asinine’ due to the unjustified reputation that donkeys have of being stupid and obstinate.
The law is an ass implies that sticking to the letter of the law goes against common sense. The letter of the law is so badly defined, there’s a tendency for learned counsel to make it
up as they go along.
Should we love that about lawyers? Then we do love donkeys, don’t we?
Thanks for checking out this blog, I hope you enjoyed!
Like this post and comment your thoughts below!
In return,
HERE'S A FREE COPY OF MY BOOK!
Comments