Dispelling stereotypes of lawyers in today's world.

• Author: Marchetti, Jr., L. Gino
• Position: President's page

Is it hard being a lawyer? How did you decide to be a lawyer? What's the most difficult case you've ever handled? These are all questions asked by high school students. Twice a year, I attend the Virtual School of Law at Vanderbilt University, through videoconferencing, with high schools throughout the United States and Canada. Usually, the audience consists of seniors in high school from five or six different schools in different cities. It gives these high school students an opportunity to ask questions and explore a possible career in the law.

Of all these questions, perhaps the one by which I was most taken aback was a question asked by a senior from a high school in Texas. She asked, "How do you deal with the stereotypes of lawyers, and how does that make you feel?" I asked this student to repeat the question as I didn't understand it. She said something to the effect of, "You know being compared to 'sharks' and not having an honest reputation and only interested in money and winning at any cost." Wow! I was a bit taken aback by this question. During the years that I've participated in this virtual program, the questions are similar to those above and the most personal they ever get is, "How much money do you make?"

I was also surprised by the fact that a senior held this opinion of lawyers or perceived this "stereotype" of lawyers. I asked her if this was an opinion formed from personal experiences with attorneys. She responded that it was not, but it was only from what she heard other people saying about lawyers.

While my initial reaction was a defensive one, I knew there was no way to win an argument with a high school senior with a hundred of her peers listening in and watching by video conference. Instead, I asked how much she knew of the situation in Iraq. I asked if she knew of Hammurabi and that one of the earliest legal systems originated in Iraq and the proud heritage the people of Iraq had through their legal systems. While I saw many heads nod at the mention of the Code of Hammurabi, I told them of a colonel in the Army JAG who was helping recreate a justice system in the post-Saddam Hussein Iraq. I told them of the frantic call received from an Iraqi judge whose wife and four small children were being fired upon in their home by insurgents in Baghdad. I told them of the young Army captain, a graduate of Cornell Law School, who instead of waiting on armored support to help rescue this judge and his family, jumped in an...