legal sanity
blue collar lawyers and the vp hopeful
I found this article from the ABA Journal on “white-collar lawyers with blue-collar backgrounds” a real eye-opener. I’d never really considered how a lawyer’s socio-economic class of origin might impact his professional life. Of the law firm lawyers interviewed, all regarded their backgrounds as a “subtle disadvantage” and something they needed to “come to terms with” when they started working in the law. One suggested his blue-collar roots ultimately made him “a little hungrier” to achieve. Another said that it caused him to be self-conscious and very careful of how he comported himself at work and at work-related events. It’s interesting to read this piece along with this recent article and this one from the Christian Science Montior discussing how Sen. John Edwards’s background as the self-made son of a textile worker could give the Democratic ticket a vital boost in populist appeal.
I found the article on blue collar lawyers fascinating from the larger viewpoint of social stratification and barriers implicit in climbing the social ladder. While I'm not a lawyer myself, I have seen time and again that differences in how people are treated based on their perceived background, and it has left me feeling vaguely distrustful of the undercurrent of elitism in many such circles. I agree with the idea of belonging to a special group, but it seems counterproductive to use that power to exclude others, especially if the criteria for entry rests so heavily on the size of one's bank account.