ADVISE TO NEWLY ENROLLED ADVOCATES *

Dr. Justice AR. Lakshmanan

I have been a part of the legal system for more than 36 years now and am well aware of the zeal which the newly enrolled Advocates experience on the day of their enrolment. The day of enrolment as an Advocate is a day of pleasant fulfillment of an ambition for all those aspiring to be a member of the legal fraternity. It is also a day of strong resolve to make a mark in the new field you are going to enter shortly.

The legal profession is one of the most ancient, the most noble and honourable profession. There is unprecedented erosion of human values taking place in almost all fields of activities of mankind. All human activities and institutions are affected very badly by those catastrophic phenomenon. As well informed youths expected to be equipped to practice law in the 21st century, one must be knowing that legal profession and for that matter judiciary is also not totally an exception to it. However, I must hasten to add that it is heartening to note that the condition of the judiciary, meaning thereby, the Bench and the Bar is not that bad when compared to the other institutions. If one wants to hear a shocking description of the degrading standard in the legal profession one may hear the following observations of the Supreme Court in Bar Council, Maharashtra v. M.V. Dabholkar, AIR 1976 SC 242: (1976) 2 SCC 291: (1976) 2 SCR 48:

“Briefly expressed, these practitioners, according to testimony recorded by the State Disciplinary Tribunal, positioned themselves at the entrance to the Magistrates’ Courts, watchful of the arrival of potential litigants. At sight, they rushed towards the clients in an ugly scrcniurage to snatch the briefs, to lay claim to the engagements even by physical fight, to undercut fees and by this unedifying exhibition, sometimes carried even into the Bar Library, solicited and secured work for themselves. If these charges were true, any member of the Bar with elementary ethics in his bosom would be outraged at his brethren’s conduct.”

If, you do not want to be unduly perturbed, you may take it that Dabholkar’s case was only an occasional aberration and not a general condition. But, nobody can even for a moment, doubt the severity of the moral crisis. No individual and no society can ignore except at its own peril, the challenge posed by moral crisis taking place all over the world. The crisis has got a very serious impact on the legal profession and the system of administration of law also.

Therefore, as new entrants in the legal profession, who are bound to take the role of the leaders of the contemporary society, one must have to act as leaders of a renaissance movement with the object of averting the moral crisis and restoring the moral standards of the community and thereby, restore the past glory, honour and nobility of the profession which has at least to some extent, suffered degradation in the near past. This is the foremost thought for consideration, because I feel that it may be difficult for the present generation to redeem itself from the present plight easily. The new entrants in this field are the hopes of tomorrow. It may be easy for them to be men of character and conduct of a high standard since they are not already affected substantially by the global phenomenon of moral crisis. Prevention is always better than cure. The present generation is thus pinning their hopes on, the new entrants, who must take a vow that come what may, they will not allow themselves to be affected by the moral crisis which has affected the present generation very badly. They must be able to put up a strong fight against the social evils that has spread among the community, as wild fire, as a consequence of erosion of values in life. They must grow as a new generation, of men, of law or leaders of the society who care for values in life and lead a value based life as example to the members of the community at large. The sure way to improve the moral standard of the society is to improve the sense of morality of each individual, who ultimately constitutes the society or community and the humanity. Only when all the members of the community decide to live a value based life, the moral standards of the community and humanity can be improved. It may a truly difficult task to perform, but before it is too late, a determined effort in that direction is a must.

In a democratic country like India, Rule of Law is of fundamental importance. Rule of law requires justice to be administered among the citizens. Administration of justice is possible as per the existing system only through Civil and Criminal Courts, other Tribunals and other established forums for adjudication of disputes. Thus, so long as the present system of administration of justice continues, an efficient Bar is the sine qua non for due administration of justice and for preservation of Rule of law. Therefore, Bar has a very responsible constitutional function to play and nobody who becomes an advocate need have any fear about his future if only one realises one’s own responsibilities in the proper perspective and discharges them duly and creditably. Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, the living legend of Indian Judiciary, has said about the role of advocates in a democracy and their responsibilities to the society and the nation:
“The rule of law cannot be built on the ruins of democracy, for where law ends, tyranny begins. If such be the keynote thought for the very survival of our Republic, the integral bond between the lawyer and the public is unbreakable. And the vital role of the lawyer depends upon his probity and professional life-style. Be it remembered that the central function of the legal profession is to promote the administration of justice. If the practice of law is thus a public utility of great implications and a monopoly is statutorily granted by the nation, it obligates the lawyer to observe scrupulously those norms which make him worthy of the confidence of the community in him as a vehicle of justice – social justice. The Bar cannot behave with doubtful scruples or strive to thrive on litigation”.

It will be advantageous for you to remember the above words of Justice Krishna Iyer.

Yet another point which I want to stress is that the law is a learned profession par excellence and an advocate is not learned if his learning is confined to law reports and statutes. As per Lord Me Mill, no other profession touches human life at so many points. Like the legal maxim “once a mortgage always a mortgage’; an advocate must always be a student. He can never put an end to the process of learning, acquiring wisdom is an endless process and the success of an advocate will depend upon the extent of the wisdom possessed by him. The legal profession, though a source of living, is mainly a career of service to the community. Besides administration of justice, the services of lawmen are in great demand in other fields like legislation and politics. It is the high function of advocates in modern society to be the guardian and vindicators of the two most precious things in life - justice and liberty. As men of law and as such leaders of the society, one cannot leave politics to a group of persons who have treated politics as a mere source of their living. As learned men and leaders of the society, you must involve in almost all activities of the society especially in politics, is my view. You must try to form public opinion to the effect that the service of lawmen should be utilized more and more in the administration of the country, since the same is to be carried on in accordance with law. In all departments of administration, more and more number of persons trained in law should be appointed for the purpose of betterment of administration, is my firm belief, of course, persons trained in law must equip themselves to act as learned men and must render the service realizing and recognizing the high position, the society has accorded to them with a view to justify the recognition granted to them by the society. Then and there alone they will be able to keep up the status, the society has granted to them and the nobility of the profession. The varied social activities in which an advocate can usefully participate will definitely help him to be a successful advocate also. If proper care is taken, such social activities can never go against the professional success of an advocate. It can only brighten the chance of success in the profession.

Life at the Bar is never a Bed of Roses. This is very much true at least in the initial stages of the career. It requires a constant and deliberate attempt on the part of its members to keep abreast with the latest developments taking place in the field of law and the society and to equip themselves in all respects. To start with, you may not get much work you may feel that you are being neglected by all concerned. However, this is the time when you should patiently work hard and study with devotion all branches of law from books and from courts where they are applied to resolve the human problems. Understanding law is quite different from applying it to the different factual situations. The application part of the law is the most difficult part of the profession. Success of any practicing advocate depends much upon the skill with which he is able to apply his knowledge of law to the facts of particular case he is called upon to handle. To equip oneself with sufficient knowledge of law and the skill to apply the same to the factual situations, it takes a reasonably long time. Such training cannot be had within a specified time. Even though at the initial stages, the struggle for existence is bound to be seen in the upper tiers, there is sufficient and more room to accommodate any number of talented ones. In fact, there is an actual dearth of the really talented ones. So, my firm belief is that nobody, who is ready to work hard and take real interest in the profession with a firm resolution that he will reach the top, need not have any fear about his/her future.

About professional ethics and the skills to be developed for a successful career, I think I need not mention anything. Because professional ethics, I suppose is a subject expected to be learnt by the new advocates themselves, by you. As such I will conclude my words once again quoting V.R. Krishna Iyer J., from Dabholkar’s case where the learned judge has delineated the moral standard expected from a practitioner of law. He is of the view that the professional conduct of advocates must be complete in tune with“The setting of a calling to which Lincoln, Gandhi, Lenin and a galaxy of great men belonged. The high moral tone and the considerable public service the Bar is associated with and its key role in the developmental and dispute-processing activities and, above all, in the building up of a just society and constitutional order has earned for it a monopoly to practice law and an autonomy to regulate its own internal discipline. This heavy public trust should not be forfeited by legalizing or licensing fights for briefs, affrays in the rush towards clients, under-cutting and wrangling among members.”

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*Speech delivered to the newly Enrolled Advocates at the Rajasthan State Bar Council, Jaipur