‘Lawyers should work for society,not money’

Young lawyers should take up social responsibility as part of the legal profession and adopt new roles for the benefit of society,said Justice G S Singhvi of the Supreme Court of India. He was addressing lawyers at a legal training programme organised by the Bar Council of Punjab,Haryana and Chandigarh on Saturday. The theme of the programme was ‘Art of Advocacy- How to be a good lawyer?’

“Making money by winning a case should not be your motto. As lawyers you have a new role to play,as members of society you have new roles to explore. We are not confined to courts alone. Challenges in society are multidimensional and you have to don the robe of social reformers,” said Justice Singhvi. “Remember that if you serve society,it will return to you the charm,the pleasure,the respect which the legal profession once had. On the other hand,if you help the common man,he thinks of you as god. That is what real service means — to work with selfless devotion for the poor,” added Singhvi.

“There have been incidents when harassed litigants have hurled shoes at the judge,these are depressing scenarios. Quick justice is the need of the hour. Don’t bother about money,it will come. Do not let down the common man,” he said. Justice Swatanter Kumar of the Supreme Court of India said: “Much like other professions,there is no substitute for hard work in the legal profession. It also requires tremendous amount of patience.”

R S Cheema,advocate of the Punjab and Haryana High Court said that merely studying IPC,CrPC and law books is not enough to be successful. Justice M M Kumar,Justice Surya Kant,Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel,Justice Jasbir Singh of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and senior advocate Ashok Aggarwal.