MY BIGGEST WEAKNESS AS A LAWYER IS THAT I FEEL TOO MUCH. Two nights ago, I received a text from a nephew. He said that a friend’s family needed a lawyer for a criminal case. He wanted to know if I was willing to meet with them. Although I was no longer accepting new cases since I shifted focus to business earlier this year, I agreed. I have always believed that every lawyer, litigating or not, has an obligation to extend legal assistance when needed, regardless of the form. I knew I was not going to accept the case, but I could give them advise, assess their case, and most importantly, refer them to an appropriate lawyer. The family came the following day, a Saturday. The lady was probably in her mid-30s. She came with her older brother, her 70-something mother, her husband, and her 17-year old son. A friend came along to help them find our address, she said. I thought it was a simple case – until she showed me their summons. All five of them – yes, including her 17-year-old son and her 70-something mother – had been sued by a complainant who is a minor. [At this point, I have to say that I fully believe that the clients did not commit the crime charged, but I am not at liberty to explain why.] The summons told me that the case was still at the Prosecutor level (i.e. what we commonly call a “Fiscal”), and that they can still file their Counter-Affidavits. But unlike the courts which require “proof of guilt beyond reasonable doubt”, the Prosecutor would only be looking for “probable cause”. There was therefore a very high chance that an Information will be filed in this case. And from experience, I know that cases like this will likely be filed even if the respondents file a counter-affidavit. But that is not all. Cases can get filed and the accused can continue with his life while waiting for his case to be finished, right? All he does is post bail. This is not true for this case. Because the complainant is a minor, the offense became non-bailable. In other words, the accused cannot post bail, and the whole time his case is pending litigation, he has to remain in jail. And even if he does get acquitted in the end, he would already have lost years of his productive life. Yes, years. Sad that it takes that long for our cases to finish. I could imagine all 5 them in jail. It was difficult for me to not put myself in the lady’s shoes. Her son was about the age of my own sons, and her mother was about the age of my mother when she died. While I explained their case to them, I intentionally did not look at any of their faces too much because I did not want to see the pain in there. It was fortunate that we had a power outage. I opened all the windows of the office and most of the time that we talked, I was looking outside. The lady was on the verge of tears at many points during our meeting, and I was afraid that if I looked at her face too much, she would cry. I did my best to sound brave, but deep inside I was afraid – afraid that one more time, our justice system will fail and innocent people will be subjected to the injustice caused by its delays. I explained their case to them patiently, answered all of their questions, simplified concepts so they can understand, gave them whatever little assurance there was without glossing over the gravity of their case and the need for them to be represented well. And then, I linked them to one of the most competent, most reliable lawyers I know, whose integrity is beyond reproach, who I believe is the best person to handle this case for many reasons. They were hesitant at first and insisted that I handle the case. I told them that I was no longer accepting cases like theirs, but that the lawyer I gave them was one of the best people I know. Finally, the meeting was ending. As we got up, they asked, almost in unison: “Attorney, how much do we pay you?” I told them I was not charging anything, that I had agreed to meet with them only because I knew I could help, but that I was not really accepting clients anymore. And that was when she broke down crying. I was crying too way after they left, and I realized, not for the first time, that I was in the wrong profession. I cannot just accept things as they are: I have to feel them. Sure, I pretend to not feel anything when I am in court. I argue and I fight and I write my pleadings like it is all easy for me. But because I feel, I deal with a lot of struggles within. And that makes lawyering an entirely different experience. It cannot be an income-generating venture for me. It will always be to me – as it probably was intended to be from the beginning of time – an advocacy. A lawyer will always be a lawyer. It just does not mean the same to me anymore.
Posted on: Mon, 14 Jul 2014 02:35:59 +0000
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