President tells law graduates: Be architects of justice

President Christine Kangaloo has told graduates at High Wooding Law School that although they may have anxiety about entering a field some may deem saturated, “there will always be important and fulfilling work available for each of you, as defenders of law and order, and as architects of justice.”

Kangaloo, an attorney, was speaking while delivering the feature address at the presentation of graduates at Hugh Wooding Law School, St Augustine, on October 4.

She told graduates that she too had similar concerns when she graduated 40 years ago.

“The truth about graduations, though, is that pride isn’t the only emotion that they bring; often, they also bring anxiety. I remember being anxious about my own life and what lay ahead for me as an attorney when, 40 years ago, I sat where you sit today, in my graduation ceremony from the Hugh Wooding Law School in 1985.”

She added, “Your anxiety isn’t assisted by your being told that the profession is saturated. Your anxiety isn’t assuaged by your being told that, as a result, good jobs are few and far between and increasingly hard to come by. And your anxiety isn’t mitigated by your being told that although there’s always room at the top, that room is becoming increasingly crowded and the price of admission into it, is becoming increasingly high.”

She said the issues affecting the field 40 years ago are similar today.

She said she was able to cope with anxiety by looking at the social benefits she could impact

“One of the things that helped me find my path through my own anxiety, was to understand the critical role that the profession plays in society, and the many opportunities for professional fulfilment that flowed from that role.”

She said many people speak disparagingly about the profession without looking in-depth to the crucial role it plays.

“You will hear – in fact, I am sure that you have already heard – many unkind things said about lawyers. Not only do we defend the guilty and get wrongdoers off, but we charge for providing these dubious services and we actually profit from doing so.”

She said her respect for the profession helped ease her nervousness about landing a job.

“When I understood the critical role that the profession played in the world of 1985, I became less anxious about the pressure to land a ‘good job’ after I graduated. I began to understand that, for as long as there are human beings, there would never be a shortage of work in the areas of advocating for justice, or protecting individual rights, or upholding the rule of law, or challenging unfair practices, or empowering communities to become aware of their rights.

“In many ways, the world today is arguably in greater need of lawyers in these areas, than the world of 40 years ago...If I can put the same point differently: because of the very nature of the profession, there will always be important and fulfilling work available for each of you, as defenders of law and order, and as architects of justice.”

She urged graduates to remember that being a lawyer isn’t only about finding employment, but serving society in fundamental ways.

She said the fundamental principles for achieving success in the profession are the same, in 2025, as they were in 1985.

“To quote from the Code of Ethics, we must all maintain our integrity and the honour and dignity of the legal profession. We must all encourage other attorneys-at-law to act similarly both in the practice of the profession and in their private lives. And we must all refrain from conduct which is detrimental to the profession, or which may tend to discredit it. If you do these things; if you build your career on the foundations of effort, resilience and perspective; if you commit yourselves to the protection of law and order, then I can assure you that success will follow, as night follows day.”