At the national access to justice and pro bono conference last week (also known as the one time in every two years that community and legal aid lawyers get a decent feed), I attended a session rather pretentiously entitled “Disruptive and Dynamic Lawyers: Gatekeepers of Social Justice.” It turned out to be an excellent session – who knew lawyers liked pretentious? But yes, it was a much-needed re-gingering of the soul for social justice advocates; a welcome tonic for tired battlers. There’s something to be said for being in a room full of people who all pride themselves on being contrarian for a cause; who are generally considered pains in the butts, and who wear that view of them as a badge of honour.
As we were being exhorted to, as lawyers, “make visible the invisible” and to take responsibility for shining a light on, and addressing injustice, the thought occurred that the idea that it is possible to achieve a just and equitable society by both using the laws, and getting them right, is an article of faith. And it may be the closest thing I’ve got to religion (apart from my slightly fanatical belief in the power of probiotics). Of course, the supporting dogma necessarily includes the following beliefs, that:
1. Nothing is inevitable and that individual action can in fact Change Things; and
2. Principles are always worth fighting for and sacrificing (enormously) for; and
3. Tenacious, rational discourse (and testing propositions through argumentation basically) is an effective means of Changing Things.
I don’t know about you, but the longer I’m alive, the less true these propositions can sometimes appear. Especially the third one, which, let’s face it, can make a person a rather tedious spouse who might turn even the most patient partner a bit stabby (or so I’ve heard). And yet, like many a good zealot, it seems that the shakiness of the foundations has yet to affect what faith I have, which surprisingly, is still a fair bit.
Fun fact if you didn’t already know it: Donoghue v Stevenson would not have been possible without pro bono assistance as Mrs Donoghue was (as the Court declared) a “pauper.” And so, from little things big things grow and so forth. Such as massively profitable product liability practices. You get what I mean.
Onwards to a fairer world, but perhaps first, a cup of tea and a biscuit.
Microwave Minutes 