#58 - A Lawyer For Life

If Barack Obama and George W Bush are still introduced as President Obama and President Bush after their terms are over, I can still be a Lawyer on LinkedIn right?

I'll back up a little. I've spent my last few months doing legal work, but not practicing Law.

When it came time to renew my Practicing Certificate last month, I had to let it lapse. Why?

Lawyers pay Professional Liability Insurance when we renew our Certificates by June 30 every year. But we can't pay our own insurance - our employer pays on our behalf.

This is fine if you're working come June 30. But if you're not in a legal role at June 30, or you're trying some freelance work in this modern economy - you can't renew.

Then if you want a job in practice again, you re-apply for your Certificate and rely on the good graces of your employer to help cover it. It doesn't make sense.

So here I am. Legal-ish work in the Legal Department of an organisation, but not technically speaking a lawyer (and lawyers love to speak technically).

If I'm on LinkedIn, at a party, or at a class reunion - can I still call myself a lawyer?

I've written here and here on the higher purpose of a lawyer as an advocate, or a champion for those in need. These are conceptual points, about a higher-order calling to defend the needy and keep order among oppression.

And practically, I have no qualms either. The Presidents I've mentioned above - Bush and Obama - have continued to serve the public with programs to aid disabled veterans and to reduce youth violence, respectively.

I still get asked by people if they can sue their dodgy builder (the answer is usually no), or if vaccine mandates squander our fundamental human rights (the answer is definitely no). I definitely still have that analytic, problem-solving lawyer mindset.

It's something I can't describe. When you become a lawyer after years of law school and plenty of case studies, you develop a unique perspective on the world. Jerry Seinfeld described life as a game of Monopoly, and the lawyers are the only people who read the rules on the inside of the box.

That special mindset, with the skills we acquired along the way and the purpose of advocating for those who need it makes us lawyers more than any job title can.

So yes, I think I'll keep 'Lawyer' on my LinkedIn banner.