Could you ever seen the practice of law like one would a spell in Harry Potter?
You might think that’s a rather silly comparison, but if you take a second to think about it, you might find more similarities than you realize. In the world of Harry Potter, spells are taught to aspiring young wizards by studying specific phrases, history and rules from textbooks - granting them the ability to change the world around them. In our world, law is taught to aspiring young lawyers by studying specific rules, history and concepts to change the world around them. And while one side has a lot less wand waving, they both have a surprising amount of learned language connected to Latin.
The quote shared earlier from Ali Bin Abi Thalib - “There is no wealth like knowledge, no poverty like ignorance” helps make the comparison extra clear. In the world of law and Harry Potter, the true reality of how things happen and who is able to understand why is limited. Most are ignorant to both the law and magic, and yet it still rules their lives from behind the scenes. And those most affected and harmed often tended to be correlated to distance from ignorance, which is often intentional from those with the wealth of knowledge at hand.
But it is such a realization that can help reinforce a twist on perspective when opening your own law firm. Tannebaum states that for most, being a lawyer is being an advocate. Opening your own firm gives you the opportunity to wield magic and your arcane knowledge on behalf of others, sharing the wealth of such knowledge. By connecting with your clients that which they’re usually in the dark about, you’re essentially sharing the spells you’ve learned that can help you protect your business. Or keep you out of jail. Or ensure the trash comes at a reasonable time every week.
On the outside looking in, that sounds like magic to me. And in our world, it seems like the law is a close as we can get for now. Plus, with a little shift in perspective… Running a law firm is basically like running our own little version of Hogwarts that changes the world of everyday people, every day.
This is a really neat analogy. I like to imagine that the different houses at Hogwarts could be different kinds of law. Slytherin might be corporate/big law and Hufflepuff could be environmental, etc. On a slightly different note, I'm not sure I totally share your idealism when it comes to the practice of law. Though my scholarship essays certainly talk about "changing the world around me," my legal aspirations have sadly dwindled into something akin to a depressed pragmatism. I will be happy to be able to provide a comfortable life for my family and anything beyond that is a bonus at this point. On the bright side, however, a localized approach like focusing on my immediate family unit, can make (in theory) a serious broader impact. I also like to think the world can be changed for the better one client at a time.
ReplyDeleteBrice, it is way to early to lose your idealism. After 43 years, I still hold onto idealism. One lawyer in private practice, usually working with others, can make a huge difference. I've written several family law statutes that have improved the lives of families and children. My research on family court systems was used in the creation of the family courts in both Michigan and Florida. I'm nothing special. If I can do it, you can do it. We all can do it.
Delete