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It is not what a lawyer tells me I may do; but what humanity, reason, and justice tell me I ought to do. (Edmund Burke, 1775)
Quote of the day
July 27, 2010 by
About Daniel BurtonDaniel Burton lives in Salt Lake County, Utah, where he practices law by day and everything else by night. You can follow him on his blog PubliusOnline.com where he muses on politics, the law, books and ideas. He is active on social media, Republican politics, and has been named to PoliticIt’s list of the “Top-50 Utah Political Opinion Leaders” on Twitter. You can reach him directly at dan.burton@gmail.com
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This is perhaps not the best portrait of Burke, but it is a fine sentiment he expresses. I am one of those few lawyers who actually believes that lawyers, as a professional class, should exercise less influence over the lives of others. Perhaps it is impossible, as the courts will always interpret the rules of society, but the law should not be the monopoly of attorneys.
I don’t know that I see that he was making a statement about lawyers so much as he was making a statement about morality. Just because the law says it’s ok doesn’t make it so, is what I hear in this. The law is designed for the lowest common denominator, and he is proposing that there are higher laws by which to live.
My two-bits.