Comments on: not impressed yet by U.S. lawyers re Pakistan

By: November 13 roundup

November 13 roundup — Tue, 20 May 2008 17:56:41 +0000

[...] American lawyers shouldn’t get all self-congratulatory about the courage shown by their Pakistani counterparts [Giacalone; more] [...]

By: Ahmed

Ahmed — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 13:02:01 +0000

I am one of the victims of the present regimes oppressive acts and was arrested on Nov 4. I am personally thankful to all the lawyers who took part in protests in the U.S. I further urge you to write more and make your policy makers understand that we can fight terrorism better if U.S. stops supporting Musharraf. A weak Pakistan will be a safe heaven for extremists. Now that we have shown that we are an enlightened society and vow to fight oppressive regimes, we have the right to be trusted. I beg you to stress on restoration of judiciary. Hammer it on your policy makers. They are playing a havoc with South-Asian Sub-continent.

By: Blacknell.net » Friday Notes: Lawyers Protesting, Explaining Perspective, and Musical Maps

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 14:10:37 +0000

[...] Indeed. For a more thought out take on the US lawyers rallies across the country, check this out. [...]

By: Scott Greenfield

Scott Greenfield — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 22:03:09 +0000

Hi David. I think my distorted views come from my perpetually disappointed idealism. I hope for much, and yet expect very little.

Somewhere in the back of my head, I envision lawyers infused with spirit and caring, a la 1968. I know, it’s a silly dream. But because of this, I find the fact that 700 men and women actually got off their butts and did something to be far more impressive than I expected. My view of lawyers today is that they are just a bit self-serving, the product of too many years of being disappointed.

By: Eric Turkewitz

Eric Turkewitz — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 11:19:15 +0000

The turnout was higher than I expected because lawyers here don’t have any history of organized protests. Or at least I cann’t think of anything similar in the 20+ years I’ve been practicing. Add in the facts that there is no prior relationship between U.S. and Pakistani lawyers and that the rally was an ad hoc sort of thing. So I expected a turnout of 100-200, at best. It was clearly much higher.

By: David Giacalone

David Giacalone — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 02:02:21 +0000

Hi, Scott. Thanks for stopping by and leaving your comment. Your low expectations for crowd turnout are telling. I clearly expect more of and from lawyers than you do. It’s an interesting philosophical question as to which of us is more negative about lawyers and about what it should mean to be a lawyer.

By: Scott Greenfield

Scott Greenfield — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 22:23:07 +0000

You really do have a negative streak in you. I thought we would be lucky to get 100 lawyers on the steps of 60 Centre Street. 700-800 is a huge showing by 2007 standards.

Think about it. Lat’s readers wouldn’t show unless there was a bonus in it for them. And Turkewitz was the only PI lawyer who would show without getting a third. The rest were all criminal defense lawyers, who thought they were giving something away for free. It was a glorious day for lawyers.

By: Carolyn Elefant

Carolyn Elefant — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 19:48:23 +0000

David,
I have already complained about the lack of notice on the DC Bar Website to Melvin White, the President. He did respond, but told me that the DC Bar is prohibited from taking political positions. And because DC Bar is probably the only bar in the country that does not have a listserve, members did not receive notice that way either. The turnout seemed OK, I would say between 500-600 lawyers, though other sites have said 300. I’ll be posting a video later tonight.