Where are those few lawyers of the late 60’s and early 70’s who cared about the poor, the outcast, the overwhelmed, the environment, the public trust, the public interest? They no longer exist, for the very most part. The lawyers, judges, people who appoint judges, the people who elect judges, the law schools and the professors of law schools no longer remember them and certainly have no regard for what those few lawyers tried to do back then. The law schools are not inviting people like Fannie Lou Hamer or Martin Luther King to come to speak to the members of the classes about justice.
The lawyers who cared about justice are gone. The interest in what these lawyers did or tried to do, is gone. Now the interest is money and success, just that. There are no lawyers who are looked up to who really care about the real work and purpose of lawyering, justice.
Pro bono work. Please, . . . Look carefully. You will only find pro bono work in reality which is the sort of work the successful sort would find acceptible or currently popular. And, when you do find something which looks like pro bono work, you will be sure to find a group of lawyers who seek to be paid for their contributions. See the Davis Wright Tremaine claim for fees in a civil rights case involving the Seattle School District.
The world is considerably different than in was in the late 60’s and 70’s. It is less. It is not appealing. It does not claim much goodness from people.
The only thing which really inspires us today, is money and war. God help us all. Sad, it is July 26, 2008 in America.