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2 Charleston L. Rev. [i] (2007-2008)

handle is hein.journals/charlwrev2 and id is 1 raw text is: FOREWORD By Senator Barack Obama Law is the language of power. It is a language that helps resolve conflicts, governs the order of transactions, and distributes the rights to property and power. It is a language that describes the legitimate exercise of force by the state and defines the limits of protest against that force. Law is the language not just of courts and of contracts but of everyday life. It speaks to the constraints and commitments we accept as citizens in a nation under the rule of law. Because lawyers are trained in the language of law, we have a special responsibility. We are not like other professionals with a skill to sell to the highest bidder. We are not merely technicians implementing faithfully the designs of others. We are often relied on to be participants in the debate over rights and power; we are called on to be stewards of public order, justice, and democracy; we are called on to be architects and catalysts both for making real the American Dream, and for protecting people from abuse around the globe. We are called on for our judgment and counsel, not just our ability to use the language to any advantage. It is not merely the lawyer's professional responsibility to be an agent of the court and to fulfill the ethical duties of fair dealing and honesty. Those duties are important, but lawyers also have an added burden to ensure that those without access to the language of power can still participate and be heard in the ongoing national conversation about what America means today and can mean in the future. It is a conversation about rights, wrongs, resources, and responsibilities. Lawyers help to ensure that this conversation is not one-sided-that the rules of the legal and political game are fair and do not inalterably favor certain groups over others. There are many arguments for the lawyer's special duty in the service of the public interest. The first is based on pragmatism. Someone has to perform this role and lawyers are often best positioned to help those who need a voice. If such voices are systematically denied legitimate expression, the Volume 2 Fall 2007 Issue 1

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