The Loneliness of the Long-distance Lawyer

While law is a noble profession, it is a long and winding road. A new entrant would do well to read good books or browse through a lawyer’s personal library to keep his mind from getting stale

- Kamaljit Singh Garewal

NO matter how jolly and gregarious lawyers are, or appear to be, theirs is a lonely profession. But how lonely does it get? Sitting quietly in the fourth or fifth row of a court, waiting for your case to be called. And watching a steady stream of your learned brothers’ walk in, bow, make their submissions, hear the judge pronounce the order, bow again and leave. You keep sitting, clutching your brief, hoping that the judge will pass a favourable order when your case is called, and your client will send the balance fee, part of which will pay the monthly bills or school fees of your child or the installment of your car.

When the case is finally called, it is late in the afternoon. The long period of wait has made you forget the most important point in your client's favour. You get tongue-tied, the case is dismissed. You forlornly leave the court, feeling wretched. It may be some days before your next client shows up; until then, you will have to find some other means to meet your urgent expenses. Such is the fate of most new entrants to the legal profession.