A powerful critique is emerging from within the legal world, arguing that the popular image of lawyers as combative gladiators is a dangerous lie that betrays the true, noble purpose of the law and justice itself.
The law is reason, free from passion – Aristotle
I read with great interest the interview conducted by Nilantha Ilangamuwa with the esteemed Professor Deepika Udagama. Her insights, which appeared in this newspaper on 23 November, were profoundly informative and critically relevant to our modern legal context. I was particularly struck by her homage to pioneering legal educators in Sri Lanka, such as Professor R.K.W. Gunasekera, who laid the solid and respected foundation of legal knowledge upon which many of us have built our careers.
However, it was her sharp analysis of the current state of the profession that truly resonated. She invoked Dean Pound’s powerful concept of “social engineering and the law,” and within that framework, she stated a vital truth that deserves to be shouted from the rooftops. She said, and I quote directly: “A legal professional must be very knowledgeable, be steeped in the ethical and humanistic foundations of the law, and understand the social dynamics that impact the law. Today, the popular view of a legal professional is that of a combative personality like a warrior who can spar and come out a winner in the adversarial process in courts of law and, of course, charge prohibitive fees. That’s a very limiting and damaging view that is at odds with the noble nature of the legal profession.”
Here is my own perspective, written in total and complete agreement with Professor Udagama’s essential views. This is a conversation we must have for the soul of our profession.
A legal professional must be far more than a mere gladiator trained to win battles in a courtroom. The practice of law demands from its practitioners a profound depth of knowledge, a rich and nuanced ethical understanding, and a genuine sensitivity to the complex social and human forces that shape the world in which the law operates. The prevailing caricature of the lawyer as a purely combative figure who thrives on adversarial combat and charges exorbitant fees for this aggression is a profoundly impoverished interpretation of what our vocation is meant to embody. This distorted image dangerously obscures the significant moral architecture that underlies all sound legal reasoning and the noble purpose that the law is truly intended to serve in building a just society.
To say that a lawyer must be “knowledgeable” implies much more than simple proficiency in statutes and legal precedents. True knowledge in the legal vocation is completely inseparable from the cultivation of a strong moral imagination. It requires a deep understanding that law is not merely a technical apparatus but a fundamentally ethical undertaking. One of the most enduring truths embedded in global legal philosophy is the concept of inherent human dignity: the idea that every member of the human family possesses an inalienable worth that forms the very foundation of freedom, justice, and peace. Law does not exist in a vacuum, isolated from the people it serves; it is grounded in the recognition of this universal moral worth. A legal professional who truly grasps this truth carries an obligation far greater than the delivery of cleverly argued motions. Such a person must understand that every single case, every dispute, every contractual ambiguity, ultimately touches a living, breathing human story with real-world consequences.
This broader ethical grounding for every lawyer demands that we transcend the narrow and confining adversarial mindset. The adversarial process is, without a doubt, an essential structural feature of many common law legal systems, yet it cannot be allowed to define the core identity of the legal practitioner. The professional who sees law solely as a form of combat quickly loses sight of the deeper purpose of the entire legal order. The law aspires to resolve discord, not to deepen it; to bring coherence and order to human affairs, not to glorify conflict for its own sake. When the public begins to view lawyers as hired warriors whose only mission is to win at all costs, it reflects a fundamental and damaging misunderstanding of how law should function in a healthy society. Such a view is incredibly limiting and deeply damaging to public trust, and it is completely at odds with the noble nature of the legal profession. The true legal vocation requires not aggression but wisdom the cultivated ability to understand not just what the black-letter law is, but what justice truly requires in any given situation.
Understanding the complex social dynamics that impact the law is therefore absolutely essential for any modern lawyer. Law is a living, breathing institution that evolves in concert with the societies it regulates. Technology, politics, economics, and culture all continuously shape and reshape the contours of legal meaning. A competent legal professional must constantly engage with these powerful forces, interpreting not only legal texts but also their broader social contexts. This includes appreciating the often-invisible pressures that bear upon individuals: systemic inequality, personal vulnerability, cultural identity, and the perpetual shifting tension between individual liberty and collective security. The law’s real-world effectiveness and its legitimacy depend entirely on this awareness. Without it, legal analysis risks becoming a mechanistic exercise, utterly divorced from the human realities it purports to govern and serve.
Equally important is the ethical sensibility that naturally flows from this awareness. A lawyer steeped in humanistic foundations does not view legal questions merely through the narrow lens of strategic outcomes and tactical wins. Genuine ethical discernment requires a disciplined examination of the moral implications of every legal choice, whether when advising a private client, interpreting an international treaty, or shaping public policy. In fields as diverse as criminal justice, international human rights law, and corporate regulatory governance, the central challenge remains the same: how to balance protection with fairness, authority with accountability, and state security with individual liberty. The true legal professional must resist the strong temptation to reduce these profound tensions into simple legal formulas or competitive maneuvers. The task, at its heart, is ultimately moral and philosophical before it is ever procedural.
This is precisely why the truly accomplished legal thinker always recognizes the paramount importance of purpose in the law. Rules and regulations, if stripped of their underlying purpose, become hollow and meaningless shells. A criticism often applied to failing regulatory processes that they suffer from a “lack of direction, purpose and structure” illustrates a much broader truth about entire legal systems themselves: the law fails society when it forgets why it exists in the first place. The legal professional’s critical role is thus to act as a bridge, to reconnect rules with reason, processes with guiding principles, and powerful institutions with the public interest they were originally intended to serve.
From this elevated perspective, the truly noble nature of the legal profession becomes much clearer. The profession is not noble because it grants its members power over argument or a tactical advantage in conflict. It is noble for a far better reason: because it serves a higher ideal, the ideal of justice marked by human dignity, equality, and collective human flourishing. The work of law is, in essence, the work of society’s moral architecture. To participate in that work is to accept a profound responsibility that can never be reduced to mere adversarial theatrics or courtroom drama.
Yet, in all of this, humility remains an essential virtue for any lawyer. The demands of the legal profession are immense, and the complexities of our modern global society only amplify them. New technologies like artificial intelligence constantly challenge our traditional understandings of privacy and personal agency; global interdependence strains outdated national frameworks of sovereignty; social fragmentation tests the resilience of our most cherished legal institutions. In such a rapidly changing world, a legal professional cannot afford to stand aloof or rely on rigid, formulaic approaches. Continuous learning, not only of new laws but of human nature and societal shifts, becomes absolutely indispensable for relevance and effectiveness.
To truly embody the noble essence of the legal profession, one must consciously reject the narrow and simplistic identity of the warrior-advocate and instead embrace a more expansive and rewarding vision: the lawyer as a thoughtful thinker, as a wise counsellor, as a dedicated steward of justice. This more complete identity includes the courage to confront injustice, the patience to navigate legal ambiguity, and the practical wisdom to balance competing social values with grace. It demands genuine empathy as much as cold logic, and moral clarity as much as technical precision in argumentation.
Ultimately, the real nobility of the legal profession lies in its immense potential to contribute to the common good and the betterment of society. A lawyer who is deeply knowledgeable, ethically grounded, and attuned to society’s complexities becomes a genuine custodian of justice in the fullest sense of the term. Such a professional elevates the law beyond mere contestation and transforms it into a positive force that uplifts fundamental human dignity and nurtures lasting social harmony. To aspire to anything less is to betray the true, profound promise of the legal vocation and its role in civilization.
SOURCE :- SRI LANKA GUARDIAN
