Shaping the future lawyer
It was only a few months ago that a senior partner of a leading legal firm complained of the behaviour of certain lawyers at dinners hosted by the bar. Is this a peculiar trait of the legal profession?
Most members will disagree with this contention. The standards all over the country in every field or profession have deteriorated. Was the situation much better a few decades ago? If this same question was posed to a senior lawyer 25 years ago, he would discuss the glorious past and dwell upon the standards that have declined rapidly over the years.

But today there is an apparent and rapid deterioration of standards. We cannot be oblivious to the obvious facts. It has become the fashion to pass the buck. Nothing seems to be done to arrest the situation. There are more than 600 lawyers who enter the profession every year.

Malthusian theory of the population explosion is believed to be a misconception, and religious zealots fervently preach expanding the population so that there would be more people practise the faith.

But theory seems to be true as far as the legal profession is concerned. Every court house is overflowing with lawyers. Most of them without work.

They would undoubtedly throw away the ethics they learnt at Law College and would think of making a living.

Leaders of the bar will have to seriously consider providing a solution to the problems faced by these lawyers. If you keep on complaining and do nothing then the problem will grow and become a monstrosity.
Today even the talented hard-working junior lawyers have problems of finding seniors to work with. Justice Mark Fernando was the first to realize this or the first to bring out a kind of solution which was practical and effective.

In 1990 Justice Fernando was persuaded to become the chairperson of a committee that looked into this problem. He thought of a solution that would embrace the apprentices who were to be enrolled the next year.

They were to work with judges of the Superior courts and the original courts and learn the basic skills and help the judges with their research. There was one condition. The law students ought to be persons with no connection to any lawyer.

Even at that time there were about 200 lawyers entering the profession. Most of them came from the village. They did not know any senior lawyer to work under him or her. The project proposal was written by Justice Fernando himself.

Desmond Fernando, the then President of the Bar Association, was able to convince the Asia Foundation to grant the necessary financial assistance. The Asia foundation was so happy that it even agreed to pay Rs. 500 a month to the Research Assistant who regularly attended the chambers of judges. The scheme was a great success.

One student was so grateful to his teacher, Justice KMMB Kulatunga. He wrote a letter to the Bar Association, paying a glowing tribute to the judge who he said took great pains to teach him the finer points of the law. This student is today a successful lawyer who has learnt not only the law but the temperaments of judges.

Today the number has increased from 200 to 500. The scheme has been abandoned. It would have been difficult to accommodate 500 members at the chambers of judges. The Present Chief Justice was concerned about the situation. The World Bank which funds the Legal and Judicial Reforms project is equally concerned about the numbers and the quality of the lawyers the institutions produce.

The Bank has reserved nearly 10 of the funds for continuing legal education and other programmes which would improve the quality of the lawyer. To persevere the democratic institutions it is important that hand of the legal profession be strengthened.

Recently a series of monthly seminars were held in Colombo. W. Dayaratne, Kuwera De Zoysa, Pathma Bandara, Ikram Mohammed P.C., Wijedasa Rajapaksha PC., Ranjith Perera, Anura Bandara, Athula Herath, Sunil Cooray and Romesh de Silva P.C. along with a judge of the Supreme Court addressed the gathering of young lawyers on various civil matters.

Romesh De Silva P.C., a former President of the Bar Association, was pleasantly surprised to note the large gathering of lawyers at the seminar.

There were over 275 who had signed the attendance register and the hall provided by the courtesy of the Chief Justice was packed. What surprised them most was that the attention with which the participants listened to the speakers and the questions they asked.

The keenness they displayed surprised the seniors. The participants have come from Bandarawela, Kurunegala, Chilaw and other distant places. The thirst for knowledge was intensely displayed. On the day W. Rajapaksha P.C. addressed, his book on Criminal Procedure was sold. Even the organizers were flabbergasted when copies of the book to the tune of Rs 175,000 were sold.

This clearly shows that the juniors are ready to learn and improve their skills. If they are properly directed and shown the correct path they will become an asset to the profession.

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