Civility

What Does It Mean To ‘Act Like a Lawyer’? Reconsidering Our Professional Identity

Shot of two businesspeople discussing something on a digital tablet

“Act like a lawyer.”

If you gave this prompt to an actor, how do you think they would act? As someone who focuses on professionalism issues, I would like to think the actor would be a strong yet civil client advocate for their client while practicing honesty and courtesy toward all involved in the legal process.

However, if the actor’s conception of the legal profession is from the movies, they may be more likely to portray the lawyer as a bully who will do anything to win a case.

First-year law students are in a similar situation as the actor; they are new to the profession and maybe not quite sure how they should behave. But like those of us who have been attorneys for a while know, law school taught us how to think and write like a lawyer, but not act like one.

Changing the script on ‘acting like a lawyer’

The American Bar Association (ABA) changed the script in 2022 on how law schools should be teaching students to act like a lawyer with revisions to its accreditation standards, particularly Standard 303(b)(3).

ABA-accredited law schools must now provide substantial opportunities for students to learn about developing their professional identity as a lawyer:

Professional identity focuses on what it means to be a lawyer and the special obligations lawyers have to their clients and society. The development of professional identity should involve an intentional exploration of the values, guiding principles, and well-being practices considered foundational to a successful legal practice. Because developing a professional identity requires reflection and growth over time, students should have frequent opportunities for such development during each year of law school and in a variety of courses and co-curricular and professional development activities.

The Commission on Professionalism recently completed its annual professionalism orientation program at all nine Illinois law schools. With this recent change by the ABA, the emphasis on professional identity formation is more apt than ever.

While talking with the new law students, I made the argument that how to act like a lawyer is just as important as how to think and write like a lawyer. Therefore, they should take advantage of opportunities to learn more about developing their professional identity in law school.

Reflect on your professional identity

As I prepared for our professionalism orientations at law schools, I will admit that I had some FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). Professional identity was not a focus of my law school education 20 years ago and I wish it were.

For those who did not graduate in the past couple of years, you might feel the same way. So, let’s take a moment to think about our professional identity from law school to today.

In law school, I knew I wanted to focus on public interest law. This is why I went to law school. I believed a law degree could help me build on my work as an AmeriCorps volunteer, which I did before law school.

While I did not think about it in terms of professional identity, my core value was a commitment to social justice issues. I carried this out by taking classes like Poverty Law, doing a community development clinic in my second year of law school, and pursuing internships and externships at public interest law organizations.

When you think back to law school, what were your core values that guided your path? Did those evolve during law school and/or in your first few years of practice?

For me, I started to think more about the type of lawyer I wanted to be as I began to practice. Some things that emerged as core to my professional identity included a desire to work hard and be the best advocate possible for my clients, to listen well to my clients and the other side, to remain fair and respectful to all parties involved, to be a supportive colleague, to give back to others just starting in the legal profession, and to make a difference in the lives of my clients.

Going above baseline

After 21 years of being a licensed attorney, I know that professionalism is so much more than the Model Rules of Professional Conduct. At the Commission, we often say that the Model Rules are the baseline for how a lawyer should act, but we are striving for a profession that behaves in a way that is far above the baseline.

To do this, it is important that attorneys are clear about their values and “live into” them as author Brene Brown says,

Living into our values means that we do more than profess our values, we practice them. We walk our talk, we are clear about what we believe and hold important, and we take care that our intentions, words, thoughts, and behaviors align with those beliefs.

As set out in a forthcoming law review article, “professional identity formation is a developmental process beginning in law school and extending over a career that should involve an intentional exploration of the values considered foundational to successful legal practice.”

No matter when you graduated from law school, it is not too late to think about how you act as a lawyer. How would you define your professional identity? Are you living into your values? What changes do you need to make, if any?

As we enter the final quarter of the year, I invite you to reflect on these questions. Please share any insights in the comments.

Staying up to date on issues impacting the legal profession is vital to your success. Subscribe here to get the Commission’s weekly news delivered to your inbox.

How Kids Can Inspire Inclusion in the Legal Profession

Asian American Attorneys Share What Has Made a Difference in Their Careers

How Perkins Coie Uses Lawyer Mentoring in a BigLaw Setting

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *