Feb. 1, 2014

Group addresses public perception of lawyers

The Association of Business Trial Lawyers hosted a presentation Tuesday on the negative public perception of attorneys. Stanford Law School professor Michael R. Asimow shared some of the research he has conducted on the portrayal of lawyers in film and popular culture, and Senior U.S. District Court Judge Susan Y. Illston offered her reaction as well as thoughts about the positive impact attorneys have on the world. Asimow said the relative number of negative portrayals of lawyers in Hollywood has increased dramatically over the last 50 years. He showed the audience a clip from "Young Mr. Lincoln," a 1939 film focusing on the president's beginnings as a wholesome small town lawyer, and contrasted it with the 1997 film "The Devil's Advocate." "Al Pacino's character is literally the devil. Satan has come up and is now the managing partner of a New York law firm, because he can do more damage in that position," Asimow quipped, drawing laughter from the audience. He also recalled a conversation he had with former Gov. Pete B. Wilson, who cut State Bar funding in 1997. "He said it was the most popular thing he did while he was in office." Judge Illston said she felt lawyers were blamed unfairly for the Watergate Scandal, noting that it has become popular to point out that everyone involved worked in the legal profession at some point. "That's true, everybody involved was a lawyer," she said, "but they were all politicians, too." Illston said the jurors she's encountered usually came away with a positive impression of the legal system and attorneys, which is more reflective of her experience. "I think they are the most fun people to go out to dinner with by far," she said. She also noted that lawyers tend to be associated with negative moments in people's lives, called when something has gone wrong. — Joshua Sebold