One of my law school professors who said he “left the profession to hide in the academy” made my class write a five-page essay about the quote. I admit that I completely misunderstood the statement and spent my five pages writing about how insulting the quote was. Franklin was writing in absolutes. Generalizing. Pushing ideas that contributed to those horrible lawyer jokes that commonly opened with two lawyers drowning in the ocean and no one wanting to save them. I wrote about how Franklin’s statement didn’t take into account those of us who wanted to see true justice in the world. To make things better and have an impact. To change and protect. My professor put a smiley face on the top of the paper and a fancy “F” beneath it. On the last page, he wrote, “Come back and see me in two years.” It didn’t take two years for me to experience what Franklin was really talking about. After six months in the DA’s office, I rewrote the paper, sent it to the professor, and got a sad face with an A underneath it, and on the last page, he wrote, “Welcome to the practice.”
What do You think about Hold Me In Contempt (2014)?
