I did not join the legal profession to change the world. To be honest, I was a senior at UF and most of my friends were taking an extra year to prolong the expiration of the young person’s dream of living among tens of thousands of young people within a relatively small radius.
That being said, it took me little time to realize the importance of our profession to the community at large.
After all, I swore an oath to “support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Florida” and to “maintain the respect due to courts of justice and judicial officers,” among other crucially important credos.
I took that to heart.
As a lawyer, friends often asked what exactly it is that I do and then they understand when they need a lawyer.
The day-to-day description of our profession is fairly easy to explain, but I believe there is something equally, if not more important, that is required from all of us.
In Harper Lee’s classic novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Scout Finch somewhat bitterly described her father and his profession: “He was real nice... our father didn’t do anything. He worked in an office, not in a drugstore. Atticus did not drive a dump-truck for the county, he was not the sheriff, he did not farm, work in a garage, or do anything that could possibly arouse the admiration of anyone.”
As you know, she later realized her father’s position as a lawyer allowed him to do the right thing in the hardest of moments.
In the layout of our democratic government, the role of a lawyer stands as one of the most significant pillars supporting the rule of law.
Lawyers are entrusted with the responsibility to ensure justice is served, protect the rights of individuals and contribute to the preservation of societal values. We are responsible not only to uphold legal norms but also the ethical and moral foundations that bind society together.
We are responsible to speak up for the rule of law.
The rule of law refers to the idea that laws, rather than the whims of individuals, should govern a nation. It emphasizes the need for laws to be applied equally to all, ensuring fairness and justice for everyone.
As the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said, “The law is not a game of strategy, nor a tool to be wielded by those with power.”
A lawyer’s duty to uphold society’s values extends beyond their professional obligations to the courtroom or to counsel as reflected by the oath we took to become a member of the Bar. The revolutionaries in Shakespeare’s Henry VI were purposeful in stating “the first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers.” Dick the Butcher desired to remove the profession that was responsible and willingly able to uphold the rule of law in order to gain unfettered power in this play.
I now speak to you personally and not as president of the Jacksonville Bar Association. The fairly elected top U.S. executives have expressed an unwillingness to adhere to rulings by the judiciary.
The clearest example is Vice President JD Vance stating that “’[j]udges aren’t allowed to control the executive’s legitimate power” on social media.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has seemingly deputized DOGE to identify inefficiencies even if laws are violated.
Lawyers should lead the charge against this bold challenge to our system.
It is not my intent to take a political position, though I assume it will be taken that way. I honestly do not see this as a Republican v. Democrat debate. It is simply about the rule of law.
The separation of powers is crucial to our government and these recent actions are a threat to our long-standing democratic process.
As lawyers, I see it as our duty to speak up about threats to our branch of government. Please join me in doing so and honoring our oath.
Christian George is managing partner of Akerman’s office in Jacksonville.