Innovative Idea:New Lawyers Represent At Least One Indigent Client

The Chief Justice of Ghana, Georgina Theodora Wood, said in a speech to a recent regional Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative conference on access to justice for indigent arrested persons, that all new attorneys should be required to assist at least one arrestee secure a fair trial at the start of their law practice. According to Justice Wood, many poor people in Ghana don't know their right to be silent, how to learn the cause of arrest, and other rights that the non-poor know how to enforce, mostly through quickly obtaining counsel. She further advocated that the Ghana Bar Assocation do more educational programs for the public at large concerning their rights. The notion that new lawyers should start their career by taking one pro-bono case is a powerful one. It establishes the notion that being a lawyer is as much a responsibility towardsd addressing social needs as it is in engaging in busines. In my opinion, it is an idea worthy of consideration in this country as well. Justice Wood's suggestion is designed to assure that lawyers identify the start of their career with pro bono experience, in hopes that it will infuse them with a lifetime commitment to periodic or regular pro bono work. It further promotes the notion that being a laywer is not just a job, but a profession with a role in society to secure justice for both those who can afford our services, and those who cannot. I look forward to hearing how this concept develops.