THE LEGAL PROFESSION

People have worked since early times and they have chosen different jobs
according to their skills, attitudes, hobbies, environment, education or family life.
Some of them have picked engineering, others medical or legal professions.
To my mind legal profession, that implies a body of individuals qualified to practice law
in a particular jurisdiction, may be quite restrictive, challenging and demanding at the
same time.
Those applying law are first meant to obtain a law degree or some other form
of legal education.
Thus, lawyers, advocates, attorneys, solicitors or barristers have quite difficult tasks to
fulfill. I believe they practise law while advising and representing clients as private
practitioners or in a law firm, drafting contracts and representing them in courts of law.
Often lawyers brief a court in writing on the issues in a case before the issue can be orally
argued. They may have to perform extensive research into relevant facts and law while
drafting legal papers and preparing for oral argument.
Moreover law graduates need to undergo some sort of apprenticeship, membership in a
professional organization and a licence.
But trials can relatively be rare. Instead, lawyers spend much of their time interacting
with clients, doing discovery or due diligence, negotiating, writing and managing their
caseloads. Issues of confidentiality or conflicts of interest make this a rich setting where
lawyers and clients make decisions.
On the other hand judges preside over court proceedings, either alone or as a part
of a panel of judges and are supposed to conduct the trial impartially and in an open
court. I think their duty to hear all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the
barristers of the case, to assess the credibility and arguments of the parties and then to
issue a ruling on the matter at hand based on his or her interpretation of the law and his or
her own personal judgment deals with so much responsibility.
It is also true that judges wear long robes (often in black or red) and sit on an elevated
platform during trials (known as the bench).

Last but not least there are the prosecutors, the chief legal representatives of the
prosecution. They are also considered as magistrates and are responsible for presenting
the case in a criminal trial against an individual accused of breaking the law.
Nevertheless, the prosecutor sits on a platform as the court does, although he or she does
not participate in deliberation just to show that they are backed by the power of the state,
while the defense and plaintiff are represented by common lawyers sitting on the ground
in the courtroom.
 Some people may argue that the legal profession requires high standards of
conduct both inside and outside the courtroom. That is why people expect them to exhibit
and promote high standards of conduct so as to reinforce public confidence, to lead a
decent and honest life, to reject any outside influence that may impact on their ability to
make independent decisions, to conduct themselves in a way that will sustain and
contribute to public respect and confidence in their integrity, impartiality and good
judgment, and never discriminate by avoiding comments, expressions, gestures or
behaviour which may be interpreted as showing insensitivity or disrespect.
To conclude I think taking up a legal profession means taking lives and destinies in your
hands.

STEFAN STOICA