Grassroots Integrity

This was a paper I submitted for my legal profession class. The question is how will the integrity of the legal profession be maintained? I just want to share it here (aside from lack of topic to write about). Perhaps I can look back on this (or you could remind me, like promotional pencils do) on my true ideals and what I really aspired to be.

(Warning: This might bore you to death. I trimmed it down a bit, so it won’t be all too long a bore.)

Recently, the Philippines had been hit by two strong typhoons that caused unspeakable tragedies to our countrymen, with great economic implications. However, a tragedy of equal or even more gravity is the state of the sociopolitical scene in the country. Corruption has become a household term, being so pervasive in the country. This long-standing culture of corruption has not been severed by ineffective campaigns to fight it, and the names of the three government powers―the judiciary, the legislature, and the executive―are yet to be wiped clean of their tarnished reputations. Out of the three, the judiciary had been perceived as the least corrupt. However, this should not spawn complacence among the law practitioners.

As in all other professions, every person must act with due diligence and integrity; to act otherwise is to disrupt the harmony in society. The peace and growth of the society lie not only upon the reins held by the government but also upon the hands of its citizens.
    
In particular, lawyers have a significant role in shaping the society and directing its path. How many times have we seen lawyers debate on national issues on televisions and newspapers? How many times have we seen them fight for rights of the farmers and the abused? And indeed, how many times have we seen lawyers defend those whom public perceived as corrupt politicians?

The legal profession had been regarded as a noble profession. Recent times, though, had regarded lawyers as the wealthy men and women with political influence. Yet, all is not lost; the new generation of lawyers and law students can yet make a difference and turn around the wheel of the legal profession to the right path.

During the first days of classes, teachers ask students why they wanted to take up law. Many others exclaimed that a lawyer leads a good life, having a well-compensated profession. Still, others said that being a lawyer is a stepping stone to being a politician. Notably, very few said that they wanted to serve the unfortunate and the needy. The nobility of the lawyer profession is grounded on its objective to defend the helpless and to secure justice―not on becoming rich and powerful. Where is integrity in search for power and money?

Hence, it is essential to start at the grassroots, to the family level even, when the ideologies are still flexible and when moralities can still be inculcated. It is at this stage that educational institutions have the significant role of indoctrinating to the law students the importance of competence, probity, and integrity. The Lawyer’s Oath “is not mere facile words, drift and hollow, but a sacred trust that must be upheld and kept inviolable”; it is way of life of the lawyers.

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Still, maintaining integrity while one is already in practice is another challenge to the legal profession. It is during this stage that lawyers forget the oath they vowed to obey, tempted by cunning people and the promise of material wealth. The Oath mandates lawyers to “at all times uphold the integrity and dignity of the legal profession.” The question is, where does integrity begin?

Personal and professional integrity are intrinsically connected and interdependent. xxx The society imposes stricter standards, rightly so, of ethics and moral values on both the personal, public, and professional life upon lawyers than upon any other professionals. Only of a clear mind and a pure heart can a person act with integrity.

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Professional integrity revolves around the fundamental responsibility to serve the community. xxx Of course, one cannot take away from a lawyer the need to earn for a living. But this should not be the end-all and be-all of the profession. xxx When the legal profession is sought for power and profit, it stops becoming a profession.

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Lawyers with integrity act with strong moral conviction and do not hesitate to do the right thing, despite disadvantages to themselves. Taoist principles dictate: “The way to do, is to be.” After all, what is a load of legal knowledge without a thread of integrity?