[This essay was submitted for Osgoode’s “Ethical Lawyering in a Global Community” course in 2019-2020.]

Introduction

Recent conceptions of legal professionalism push back on the archaic models of professionalism which “bleach out” an individual’s gender, race, class, and arguably all the distinguishable parts of an individual’s identity. (Wilkns, 1998, p. 1) The focus on this essay is to highlight how this “bleaching” happens from the beginning of one’s legal career – that is, as a law student. I argue that the lived experiences of law students provide a unique standpoint in understanding the part of “professional bleaching” which fades an individual’s authentic self. Although some sorts of self-expression may be inappropriate as a “professional,” there are appropriate forms of self-expression, integral to one’s identity, which are discouraged in law students.

Lived Experience

In my first networking event at law school, I immediately felt the need to put on a façade. As a visible minority, this was not entirely new. I knew the drill: cover my tattoos, take out my piercings, dress in neutral colors, and enunciate every word. But there was something distinct about what I chose to present on this occasion. I was standing in a room full of powerful lawyers who could make or break my future. The difference between our social standings was pronounced, but what was even more striking was my anxiety over being ostracized. I had to play it safe and leave a part of myself at the door. I had to prove that I was like them, and discussing global politics proved that I could think like them. I became somebody else because I thought that is what a professional ought to do.

To be branded “eccentric” or “quirky” have different connotations depending on where you are on the professional hierarchy. There was a remarkable contrast in the social behavior between the students and professionals. My peers were equally nervous, tense, and uncomfortable. Overhearing their conversations, the personas projected was so different from the people I knew. With slight variations in their rehearsed lines, they were beginning to look “almost purely fungible.” (Wilkins, 1998, p. 1) In contrast, I noticed that the senior associates and partners could be the most authentic. They could curse and be crass, they could project a cynicism and indifference, and they could be whoever they wanted to be. While those in power had the privilege of being their authentic selves, I was clumsily trying to be my “professional self” (Wilkins, 1998, p. 1).

Analysis

This issue of personality “bleaching” in law students is just a symptom of a more malicious issue of professionalism being used to “exercise power and exclusion based on gender, race, class and religion.” (Backhouse, 2003, P. 2-2) The link is evident with a closer look at the norms generated by conceptions of professionalism largely held by “the white, Protestant, wealthy men.” (Backhouse, 2003, p. 2-7) The norms generated in these circles certainly exclude on the basis of gender, race, and class, but a corollary of this is that they exclude associated forms of self-expression. Such biased norms are intuitive upon reflection: some music genres become more “appropriate” than others, genders dictate athletic interests, and a particular vernacular indicates levels of intelligence. These attitudes promote a bifurcation between our professional persona and who we really are. It makes compartmentalizing our “moral deliberation in the spirit of robust role-differentiated behavior” come naturally; indeed, we do so at “a significant personal and social price.” (Farrow, 2008, p. 74) This issue fosters an unsustainable view of professionalism whereby showing authentic selves is discouraged.

The suggestion here is not to throw away all professional decorum; certainly, there are some virtues associated with archaic conceptions of professionalism, like respect or competence. What is problematic is conflating ethical superiority with the archaic highbrow norms associated with professionalism. You are not a better person for listening to Bach over Tupac. Professional codes of conduct go too far when they thrust a particular identity on the individual so they conform to the norms of those in power. A part of having a sustainable professionalism that “takes seriously the broad range of voices and interests” (Farrow, 2008, p. 56) is a dimension of freedom to fully express the diversity of individual personalities.

Conclusion

The existing conceptions of professionalism infected by “power, exclusion and dominance” (Backhouse, 2003, p. 2-2) are especially harmful for law students. Students are the vulnerable trainees of the profession relying on the graces of those powerfully established in the profession. The standpoint of the law student sheds light on the significance of this issue for the profession at large. There are subtler forms of self-expression (embedded in gender, race, and class) which are stifled in the name of professionalism. Navigating through the profession and developing a sustainable notion of professionalism is difficult for all law students, but a sustainable conception of professionalism must resonate with self-expression and an individual’s authentic self.

It is incumbent on those fortunate enough to be in positions of power to help alleviate this issue. Disruptions to the norm should not be thought of as “antagonistic zero-sum games” (Farrow, 2008 p. 84), and the scope of what is “appropriate” for a professional must be deliberately expanded. If the aim is to have a generation of lawyers motivated to act ethically, it is necessary to create a space for people to be themselves.